From the Endocrinology, MidMichigan Health-University of Michigan Health System, Midland, Michigan..
Physical Therapy, MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, Midland, Michigan.
Endocr Pract. 2020 Aug;26(8):846-856. doi: 10.4158/EP-2020-0237.
Telehealth is a timely solution for delivering health care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The practice of endocrinology is suited to provide virtual care to patients with a variety of endocrine disorders. In this survey, we aimed to gauge the adoption of telehealth practices during the COVID-19 pandemic among endocrinologists in the United States (U.S.).
This was a cross-sectional, online survey-based study. Members of the Facebook group "Endocrinologists" were invited to participate in the survey. Characteristics of respondents and their rates of adoption of telehealth were described and analyzed for statistically significant associations using the Pearson chi-square test.
A total of 181 physicians responded to the survey. The majority of respondents were females (75%), younger than or equal to 40 years of age (51%), employed (72%) either by a private group/hospital or by an academic setting, worked in an urban area (88.4%), and were adult endocrinologists (93%). With the COVID-19 outbreak, more than two-fifths (44.2%) of participants switched to completely virtual visits, and an additional 44.2% switched to a majority of virtual visits, with some in-person visits in the outpatient setting. Additionally, there was a significantly higher adoption rate of telehealth among endocrinologists younger than or equal to 40 years of age (P = .02) and among those who practiced in northeastern, midwestern, and the western geographic regions of the U.S. (P = .04).
The majority of the responding endocrinologists from the U.S. appeared to have swiftly adapted by using telehealth within a few weeks of COVID-19 being declared a national emergency.
CMS = Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; PPE = personal protective equipment; U.S. = United States.
远程医疗是在 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间提供医疗服务的及时解决方案。内分泌学实践适合为各种内分泌疾病患者提供虚拟护理。在这项调查中，我们旨在衡量美国（U.S.）内分泌学家在 COVID-19 大流行期间采用远程医疗实践的情况。
这是一项横断面、基于在线调查的研究。Facebook 群组“内分泌学家”的成员被邀请参与调查。描述了受访者的特征及其采用远程医疗的比率，并使用 Pearson 卡方检验分析了具有统计学意义的关联。
共有 181 名医生对调查做出了回应。大多数受访者为女性（75%），年龄在 40 岁或以下（51%），受雇于私人团体/医院或学术机构（72%），工作在城市地区（88.4%），且为成人内分泌科医生（93%）。随着 COVID-19 的爆发，超过五分之二（44.2%）的参与者完全转为虚拟就诊，另有 44.2%的参与者转为大部分虚拟就诊，仅在门诊设置中进行一些面对面就诊。此外，年龄在 40 岁或以下的内分泌科医生（P =.02）和在美国东北部、中西部和西部地理区域行医的医生（P =.04）中，远程医疗的采用率显著更高。
在宣布 COVID-19 为国家紧急状态后的几周内，美国大多数回应的内分泌科医生似乎迅速采用了远程医疗。
CMS = 医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心；COVID-19 = 2019 冠状病毒病；PPE = 个人防护设备；U.S. = 美国。
