Norman Maia Leigh, Malcolmson Janet, Randall Armel Susan, Gillies Brittany, Ou Brian, Thain Emily, McCuaig Jeanna Marie, Kim Raymond H
Familial Cancer Clinic, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
J Med Genet. 2022 Jan;59(1):23-27. doi: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2020-107418. Epub 2020 Oct 16.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid adoption of virtual clinic processes and healthcare delivery. Herein, we examine the impact of virtualising genetics services at Canada's largest cancer centre. A retrospective review was conducted to evaluate relevant metrics during the 12 weeks prior to and during virtual care, including referral and clinic volumes, patient wait times and genetic testing uptake. The number of appointments and new patients seen were maintained during virtual care. Likewise, there was a significant increase in the number of patients offered testing during virtual care who did not provide a blood sample (176/180 (97.7%) vs 180/243 (74.1%); p<0.001), and a longer median time from the date of pretest genetic counselling to the date a sample was given (0 vs 11 days; p<0.001). Referral volumes significantly decreased during virtual care (35 vs 22; p<0.001), which was accompanied by a decreased median wait time for first appointment (55 days vs 30 days; p<0.001). The rapid virtualisation of cancer genetic services allowed the genetics clinic to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic without compromising clinical volumes or access to genetic testing. There was a decrease in referral volumes and uptake of genetic testing, which may be attributable to pandemic-related clinical restrictions.
新冠疫情导致虚拟诊所流程和医疗服务的迅速采用。在此，我们研究了加拿大最大癌症中心基因服务虚拟化的影响。进行了一项回顾性研究，以评估虚拟护理之前和期间12周内的相关指标，包括转诊和诊所就诊量、患者等待时间以及基因检测接受情况。虚拟护理期间，预约数量和新患者就诊数量保持稳定。同样，在虚拟护理期间，未提供血样但接受检测的患者数量显著增加（176/180（97.7%）对180/243（74.1%）；p<0.001），并且从检测前基因咨询日期到提供样本日期的中位时间更长（0天对11天；p<0.001）。虚拟护理期间转诊量显著下降（35对22；p<0.001），同时首次预约的中位等待时间缩短（55天对30天；p<0.001）。癌症基因服务的快速虚拟化使基因诊所能够在不影响临床就诊量或基因检测可及性的情况下应对新冠疫情。转诊量和基因检测接受率有所下降，这可能归因于与疫情相关的临床限制。
