The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, The University of Melbourne, Department of Haematology Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia.
Centre for Health Policy, University of Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
J Telemed Telecare. 2024 Sep;30(8):1270-1284. doi: 10.1177/1357633X221136305. Epub 2022 Dec 9.
The Victorian COVID-19 Cancer Network (VCCN) Telehealth Expert Working Group aimed to evaluate the telehealth (TH) experience for cancer patients, carers and clinicians with the rapid uptake of TH in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We conducted a prospective multi-centre cross-sectional survey involving eight Victorian regional and metropolitan cancer services and three consumer advocacy groups. Patients or their carers and clinicians who had TH consultations between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 were invited to participate in patient and clinician surveys, respectively. These surveys were opened from September to December 2020.
The acceptability of TH via both video (82.9%) and phone (70.4%) were high though acceptability appeared to decrease in older phone TH users. Video was associated with higher satisfaction compared to phone (87.1% vs 79.7%) even though phone was more commonly used. Various themes from the qualitative surveys highlighted barriers and enablers to rapid TH implementation.
The high TH acceptability supports this as a safe and effective strategy for continued care and should persist beyond the pandemic environment, where patient preferences are considered and clinically appropriate. Ongoing support to health services for infrastructure and resources, as well as expansion of reimbursement eligibility criteria for patients and health professionals, including allied health and nursing, are crucial for sustainability.
维多利亚 COVID-19 癌症网络 (VCCN) 远程医疗专家工作组旨在评估癌症患者、护理人员和临床医生在 2020 年 COVID-19 大流行期间快速采用远程医疗时的远程医疗 (TH) 体验。
我们进行了一项前瞻性多中心横断面调查，涉及 8 个维多利亚地区和大都市癌症服务机构和 3 个消费者权益团体。邀请在 2020 年 7 月 1 日至 12 月 31 日期间进行远程医疗咨询的患者或其护理人员和临床医生分别参加患者和临床医生调查。这些调查于 2020 年 9 月至 12 月开放。
通过视频（82.9%）和电话（70.4%）进行远程医疗的可接受性都很高，尽管在使用电话进行远程医疗的老年患者中，可接受性似乎有所下降。与电话相比，视频与更高的满意度相关（87.1%对 79.7%），尽管电话的使用更为普遍。来自定性调查的各种主题强调了快速实施远程医疗的障碍和促进因素。
远程医疗的高可接受性支持这是一种安全有效的持续护理策略，应该在大流行环境之外持续下去，在这种环境下，需要考虑患者的偏好和临床适宜性。向卫生服务机构提供基础设施和资源的持续支持，以及扩大患者和卫生专业人员（包括辅助医疗和护理人员）报销资格标准，对于可持续性至关重要。
