Assessing Implementation and Impact of Post-operative Telemedicine visits in a Colorectal Surgical Practice
Meagan Derbyshire, Margaret Siu, Heather M. Grant, antonio lam, holly sheldon, ziad kutayli, Tovy Kamine, kelly tyler
Surgery, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Objective. Assess implementation of telemedicine in a colorectal surgery practice and characterize outcomes compared to those not participating in telemedicine.
Design. Retrospective cohort study.
Setting. Tertiary care center, with ambulatory and hospitalized population.
Patients. All adults > 18 years undergoing elective or urgent resections for both benign and malignant disease (n=175).
Interventions. Use of postoperative telemedicine visits.
Main Outcome Measures. Readmissions care utilization, post-operative complications.
Results. 25%(43/175) of patients utilized telemedicine post-operatively, while 75%(132/175) did not. When comparing gender (p=0.62), insurance (p=0.37) and pathology (p=0.85), there were no significant differences in telemedicine utilization. Similarly, when comparing post-operative complications (p=0.54), readmissions (p= 0.40) and reoperations (p=0.38), there were no significant differences in telemedicine utilization.
Conclusions. Telemedicine can be safely employed as an adjunct to post-operative surgical care without an increased in complications or readmissions. Advantages may include broadened access to care and improved patient satisfaction.
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