4.5 Article

KIT 1 (Keep in Touch) Project-Televisits for Cancer Patients during Italian Lockdown for COVID-19 Pandemic: The Real-World Experience of Establishing a Telemedicine System

Journal

HEALTHCARE
Volume 11, Issue 13, Pages -

Publisher

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11131950

Keywords

telemedicine; digital health; radiation oncology

Ask authors/readers for more resources

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Radiation Oncology Department in Italy implemented an eHealth platform for televisit/monitoring/consultation to reduce patient exposure to the virus. Data collected from patients who underwent televisit/teleconsultation showed that the eHealth system was useful and user-friendly. Further research is needed to support widespread adoption.
To evaluate the adoption of an integrated eHealth platform for televisit/monitoring/consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: During the lockdown imposed by the Italian government during the COVID19 pandemic spread, a dedicated multi-professional working group was set up in the Radiation Oncology Department with the primary aim of reducing patients' exposure to COVID-19 by adopting de-centralized/remote consultation methodologies. Each patient's clinical history was screened before the visit to assess if a traditional clinical visit would be recommended or if a remote evaluation was to be preferred. Real world data (RWD) in the form of patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) and patient reported experiences (PREMs) were collected from patients who underwent televisit/teleconsultation through the eHealth platform. Results: During the lockdown period (from 8 March to 4 May 2020) a total of 1956 visits were managed. A total of 983 (50.26%) of these visits were performed via email (to apply for and to upload of documents) and phone call management; 31 visits (1.58%) were performed using the eHealth system. Substantially, all patients found the eHealth platform useful and user-friendly, consistently indicating that this type of service would also be useful after the pandemic. Conclusions: The rapid implementation of an eHealth system was feasible and well-accepted by the patients during the pandemic. However, we believe that further evidence is to be generated to further support large-scale adoption.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.5
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available