The Telemedicine Takeover: Lessons Learned During an Emerging Pandemic.
Telemed J E Health
; 28(3): 353-361, 2022 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34115538
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Health care systems rose to the challenges of COVID-19 by creating or expanding telehealth programs to ensure that patients could access care without an in-person appointment. Traditionally, physicians receive limited formal telemedicine training, making preparedness for this transition uneven. To describe challenges to and attitudes toward providing virtual patient care, we distributed a survey to physicians within our system who largely had no formal prior training/experience with telemedicine, but transitioned to routine telemedicine use. Data collected are then used to offer actionable recommendations for health system leaders and medical educators. Materials andMethods:
Surveys were distributed to all faculty outpatient general internal medicine physicians working at any New York University Langone Health, New York City Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and Gouverneur, and the VA NY Harbor Health System (n = 378) in mid-2020. Survey items consisted of Likert and open-ended questions related to experience with televisits (13 items) and attitudes toward care (24 items).Results:
Telehealth-related challenges varied by site and modality. Primary challenges included establishing a connection from the patient's (98%) or physician's end (84%) and difficulty in the following domains working with team members (39%), physical examinations (95%), establishing new patient relationships (70%), and taking history (40%), among others. In thematic analysis, significant themes with illustrative qualitative commentary emerged related to technological challenges, new systems issues, and new patient/physician communication experiences.Discussion:
Experience differences were rooted in the type of technology employed. Safety-net practices conducted mostly telephonic visits, whereas private outpatient sites utilized video, despite both using identical electronic medical records. As we consider a "new normal" and prolonged community transmission of COVID-19 infection, it is essential to establish telemedicine training, tools, and protocols that meet the needs of both patients and physicians.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Guideline
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Telemed J E Health
Assunto da revista:
INFORMATICA MEDICA
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos