Vanderbilt Study Strengthens Argument for Telehealth for Pre-Surgery

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Telehealth has been an evolving topic that healthcare providers are still trying to navigate between Federal audit reports showing massive billing errors, and progressive studies on efficacy. While some studies have shown there is still work to be done, a new study from Vanderbilt University suggests that telehealth could be a valuable tool for patients that need to check in with care teams prior to their surgery. 

In the study published earlier this month in Journal of the American College of Surgeons and also presented last month at the Southern Surgical Association annual meeting, researchers compared the experiences of 387 patients that were scheduled for surgery between May 2021 and June of last year. A total of 301 patients underwent in-person visits in preparation for their surgery, and 86 patients were evaluated via telemedicine. The researchers compared the levels of shared decision-making as well as satisfaction levels of the consultations. 

While the studies on telehealth have increased the last few years, there is still somewhat of a gap on the impact of telemedicine on the decision-making processes for surgery patients. The researchers hypothesized that the use of telehealth would be associated with lower levels of patient perceived shared decision-making and communication.

Overall, researchers found a high patient satisfaction rate for both the in person and telehealth visits. Additionally, contrary to their hypothesis the researchers did not find a lower level of communication between patients and physicians in the telemedicine group. 

For those patients that had complaints, technical difficulties and an inability to physically meet with the physician were cited. Some of the comments included interaction and chemistry as key elements to an in-person visit. Additionally the ability to have an in depth conversation about something as serious as surgery was notes as well. 

Usefulness and convenience were the top reasons given for favorability. Not having to miss work, saving time on driving distance as well as parking and navigating facilities was given as specific examples. 

While the researchers agree that telehealth may not be the best option for all diseases and scenarios, especially those cases where a physical exam is critical before surgery, they believe telehealth can be an effective tool in practices where patients live far away.

Co-author of the study and associate professor of surgery at Vanderbilt, Alexander T. Hawkins, MD, MPH, FACS believes telehealth can be a vital pre-surgery evaluation tool, especially in large practices. In a press release statement, Hawkins indicated the study results exceeded their expectations stating, “Across the entire healthcare system, we now do about 20,000 telehealth visits a month. Previously, there had been concerns about whether we could effectively communicate with patients remotely, but we found that patients are just as satisfied with telehealth visits as in-person appointments.”

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