Telemedicine in management of genitourinary malignancies: Patient and physician perspectives

• DOI: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2021.04.003
• Publication Date: 2021-06-04T07:19:20Z
• Authors: Ezra J. Margolin; Luis A. Pina Martina; Caleb H. Miles; Sven Wenske; James M. McKiernan; G. Joel DeCastro; Elias S. Hyams; Charles G. Drake; Emerson A. Lim; Mark N. Stein; Israel Deutsch; Christopher B. An...
• Keywords: Male; Physician-Patient Relations; Communication; Disease Management; Middle Aged; Prognosis; Telemedicine; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; 0302 clinical medicine; Patient Satisfaction; Surveys and Questionnaires; Humans; Female; Prospective Studies; Urogenital Neoplasms; Aged; Follow-Up Studies

The rapid expansion of telemedicine has presented a challenge for the care of patients with genitourinary malignancies. We sought to assess patient and physician perspectives on the use of telemedicine for genitourinary cancer care.We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study of patients who had telemedicine visits with urology, medical oncology, or radiation oncology for management of genitourinary malignancies from July-August 2020. Patients and physicians each received a questionnaire regarding the telemedicine experience. Responses were scored on a 5-point Likert scale. The primary outcomes of the study were patient and physician satisfaction.Of the 115 patients who enrolled, we received 96 patient responses and 46 physician responses. Overall, 77% of patients and 70% of physicians reported being "extremely satisfied" with the telemedicine encounter. Satisfaction was high among all components of the encounter including patient-physician communication, counseling, shared decision making, time spent, timeliness and efficiency, and convenience. Additionally, 78% of patients and 85% of physicians "strongly agreed" that they were able to discuss sensitive topics about cancer care as well as they could at an in-person visit. Nine telemedicine visits (9%) encountered technological barriers. Technological barriers were associated with lower overall satisfaction scores among both patients and physicians (p ≤ 0.01).We observed high levels of patient and physician satisfaction for telemedicine visits for management of genitourinary malignancies. Technological barriers were encountered by 9% of patients and were associated with decreased satisfaction.