Atreya Shrikant, Kumar Gaurav, Samal Jyotiprakash, Bhattacharya Moitri, Banerjee Shabnam, Mallick Pallab, Chakraborty Debratna, Gupta Sunipa, Sarkar Saswati
Department of Palliative Care and Psycho-Oncology, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Indian J Palliat Care. 2020 Jun;26(Suppl 1):S40-S44. doi: 10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_145_20. Epub 2020 Jun 30.
Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) has usurped human peace and mobility. The confinement of the population and the rising epidemic has disrupted the routine care for non-COVID-19 patients. Telehealth is a growing field, and its application in palliative care is seen as a solution to serve the population in this difficult crisis.
A exploratory survey was designed to assess the changes in the hospital-based practice of palliative care in the COVID-19 pandemic and patient/caregiver's perception about the provision of telehealth services to palliative care patients of a tertiary care cancer hospital of eastern India.
There was a dramatic reduction in the outpatient clinic footfalls by 51% with teleconsultation. Although there was no change in the number of emergency visits, the inpatient admissions reduced by 44%. Nearly 82% of patient/caregivers gave a positive feedback about telemedicine care provided by the department and mentioned that the service provided them with support and connectedness. Almost 64% of the patients and caregivers reported that the service helped allay the fear and reassured them that there was a someone to support them. As high as 76% of the participants felt that they would prefer teleconsultation in future and were ready to pay for teleconsultations if charges were to be applied in the future.
Telemedicine is an important tool and an essential service to care for palliative care patients in the community especially when the patient and health-care professionals are separated by a pandemic or natural disaster.
2019年新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）扰乱了人类的安宁与出行。人群的隔离以及疫情的不断升级，打乱了对非COVID-19患者的常规护理。远程医疗是一个不断发展的领域，其在姑息治疗中的应用被视为在这场艰难危机中为民众提供服务的一种解决方案。
设计了一项探索性调查，以评估COVID-19大流行期间印度东部一家三级癌症专科医院姑息治疗的医院实践变化，以及患者/护理人员对为姑息治疗患者提供远程医疗服务的看法。
通过远程会诊，门诊量显著下降了51%。虽然急诊就诊人数没有变化，但住院人数减少了44%。近82%的患者/护理人员对该科室提供的远程医疗护理给予了积极反馈，并提到这项服务为他们提供了支持和联系。近64%的患者和护理人员报告称，这项服务有助于减轻恐惧，并让他们安心知道有人会支持他们。高达76%的参与者表示他们未来更倾向于远程会诊，并且如果未来收取费用，他们愿意为远程会诊付费。
远程医疗是社区中护理姑息治疗患者的一项重要工具和基本服务，尤其是当患者和医护人员因大流行或自然灾害而分隔两地时。
