Use of Telehealth by Surgical Specialties During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: While telehealth use in surgery has shown to be feasible, telehealth became a major modality of health care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To assess patterns of telehealth use across surgical specialties before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design, Setting, and Participants: Insurance claims from a Michigan statewide commercial payer for new patient visits with a surgeon from 1 of 9 surgical specialties during one of the following periods: prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (period 1: January 5 to March 7, 2020), early pandemic (period 2: March 8 to June 6, 2020), and late pandemic (period 3: June 7 to September 5, 2020). Exposures: Telehealth implementation owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: (1) Conversion rate defined as the rate of weekly new patient telehealth visits divided by mean weekly number of total new patient visits in 2019. This outcome adjusts for a substantial decrease in outpatient care during the pandemic. (2) Weekly number of new patient telehealth visits divided by weekly number of total new patient visits. Results: Among 4405 surgeons in the cohort, 2588 (58.8%) performed telehealth in any patient care context. Specifically for new patient visits, 1182 surgeons (26.8%) used telehealth. A total of 109 610 surgical new outpatient visits were identified during the pandemic. The median (interquartile range) age of telehealth patients was 46.8 (34.1-58.4) years compared with 52.6 (38.3-62.3) years for patients who received care in-person. Prior to March 2020, less than 1% (8 of 173 939) of new patient visits were conducted through telehealth. Telehealth use peaked in April 2020 (week 14) and facilitated 34.6% (479 of 1383) of all new patient visits during that week. The telehealth conversion rate peaked in April 2020 (week 15) and was equal to 8.2% of the 2019 mean weekly new patient visit volume. During period 2, a mean (SD) of 16.6% (12.0%) of all new patient surgical visits were conducted via telehealth (conversion rate of 5.1% of 2019 mean weekly new patient visit volumes). During period 3, 3.0% (2168 of 71 819) of all new patient surgical visits were conducted via telehealth (conversion rate of 2.5% of 2019 new patient visit volumes). Mean (SD) telehealth conversion rates varied by specialty with urology being the highest (14.3% [7.7%]). Conclusions and Relevance: Results from this study showed that telehealth use grew across all surgical specialties in Michigan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While rates of telehealth use have declined as in-person care has resumed, telehealth use remains substantially higher across all surgical specialties than it was prior to the pandemic.

Outcomes of 122 diverse adult and pediatric cord blood transplant recipients from a large cord blood bank.

BACKGROUND: Umbilical cord blood is a useful stem cell source for some patients. The American Red Cross Cord Blood Program was established as a national network of cord blood banks. Nine thousand cord blood units were cryopreserved for transplant use. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This report summarizes the experience with the first 125 cord blood units that have been distributed for transplant for 122 patients at 36 different transplant centers worldwide. Patients were treated with a variety of conditioning regimens. RESULTS: Most patients had acute myelogeneous leukemia (21%), genetic disorders (22%), or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (18%). The median age of the patients was 11 years with a range of 2 months to 63 years. The patients ranged in size from 3 to 120 kg (median, 39 kg). The median number of days to neutrophil engraftment was 22, and the median number of days to platelet engraftment was 63. Thirty percent of patients experienced Grades III to IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Survival at 1 year after transplant was 35 percent, with recurrent disease the major cause of death. In multivariate analysis, only age less than 18 years was a significant predictor for improved survival. Forty-two percent of patients were non-Caucasian. Engraftment, GVHD, survival, and disease-free survival were similar among Caucasian and non-Caucasian patients. CONCLUSION: Umbilical cord blood serves as a satisfactory stem cell source for a diverse group of pediatric and adult patients.

Liquid storage, shipment, and cryopreservation of cord blood.

BACKGROUND: Cord blood banking requires methods for shipping and storage. This study examines the influence of shipping via overnight courier on postthaw viability of cord blood. STUDY DESIGNS AND METHODS: Anticoagulated cord blood was divided with one sample diluted 1:1 using STM-sav (a storage solution) and the other undiluted. Units were shipped from Minneapolis to Memphis and returned, RBC-depleted, cryopreserved, stored for 14 days, and thawed. MNC counts, percent viable cells, quantity of CD34+ cells, and frequency of CFU-GM were measured. Temperature during shipment was continuously monitored. RESULTS: Preliminary studies showed the packing and processing protocol influenced the temperatures experienced during shipping. Samples achieved temperatures below 10 degrees C within 4 to 8 hours with a few units dropping near or below 1 degrees C with cold ambient temperatures. The MNC recovery, CD34+45+ recovery, and frequency of CFU-GM for samples that were shipped were comparable to those observed using static liquid storage. The postthaw viable cell recovery was greatest for storage and shipping times of 24 hours and decreased when the storage and shipping times were longer. CONCLUSION: Ambient conditions and the packing and processing protocol influence the temperature history of the sample. Samples stored beyond 24 hours in liquid storage and shipping exhibit a decreased postthaw recovery.