Adam J. Gadzinski, MD, MS, on the Design of a Study Assessing Impact of Telemedicine on Patient-Reported Outcomes

In a study presented at the Society of Urologic Oncology 21st Annual Meeting, researchers sought to determine the impact of a rurally focused telemedicine program on patient outcomes in the urologic oncology outpatient clinic at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC).

Ultimately, it was revealed that telemedicine provides a medium for cancer care delivery that eliminates the significant travel burden associated with in-person clinic appointments.

In an interview with CancerNetwork®, Adam J. Gadzinski, MD, MS, urologic oncology fellow and an acting instructor of Urologic Oncology at the Urology Clinic at UWMC, explained the design for the study.

Transcription:
So, this was simply put a kind of prospective study where patients who had visits either via in person or via telemedicine were given a post-visit survey that asked questions both about patient satisfaction with the survey itself or with the visit itself, but also questions about travel expenses. Did they have to spend a night in a hotel? How many miles did they travel for? And looked at the differences between patients who had to come to our clinic in person versus those who had a telemedicine visit.