Evidence of a Rapid Shift in Outpatient Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Telemedicine.
Telemed J E Health
; 26(10): 1301-1303, 2020 10.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32429769
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
During the current pandemic, measures for preventing SARS-CoV-2 virus exposure has severely impacted the delivery of outpatient clinical care to patients with a chronic neurological condition. Telemedicine has emerged as an obvious choice to counter these impediments. However, its potential for maintaining outpatient care at pre-pandemic levels during these rapidly changing times is untested. Therefore, we analyzed our experience in a tertiary care epilepsy center.Methods:
We divided the study period from March 1, 2020 to April 15, 2020 into a baseline, transition (to telemedicine), and current phase. We divided outpatient encounters into clinic, virtual (using Cleveland Clinic Express Care Online platform), and telephone (including commercial video conferencing platforms).Results:
Completed outpatient visits during baseline and current period were 595 and 590, respectively. Nearly 1 out of 4 patients missed outpatient visits during the transition period. The virtual visits accounted for 19.7% of completed visits during baseline and increased to 66.8% during the current period. There were no telephone visits during the baseline phase but accounted for 26.1% of completed visits during the current phase. Less than 1 percent of completed visits in the current phase were in the clinic.Conclusion:
We provide evidence that telemedicine's robust and rapid scalability can help maintain a seamless transition of outpatient care during the pandemic.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Neumonía Viral
/
Control de Infecciones
/
Telemedicina
/
Infecciones por Coronavirus
/
Pandemias
/
Atención Ambulatoria
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Telemed J E Health
Asunto de la revista:
INFORMATICA MEDICA
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos