Surgeon, patient, and caregiver perspective of pediatric surgical telemedicine in the COVID-19 pandemic era

Purpose Adoption of telemedicine (TME) in surgical specialties, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, has previously been slow. The purpose of this prospective, observational, single institution study is to evaluate surgeon and caregiver perspectives of TMEs during the pandemic. Methods Surveys were distributed to surgical faculty regarding perceptions of TME early during the pandemic and 2 months later. Caregivers (or patients > 18 years old) were asked after each TME to complete a survey regarding perceptions of TMEs. Results Surveys were distributed to 73 surgeons. Response rates were 71% initially and 63% at follow-up. Sixty-eight percent reported no prior TME experience. No significant differences were noted in the overall satisfaction. An inverse relationship between surgeon age and satisfaction at the follow-up survey was identified (p = 0.007). Additional surveys were distributed to 616 caregivers or patients (response rate 13%). Seventy-two percent reported no prior experience with TME and 79% described TME as similar to an in-person visit. Audiovisual satisfaction of the TME was higher in greater income households (p = 0.02). Conclusions Pre-pandemic experience with TME was low in both groups; however, experiences were perceived as satisfactory. Positive experiences with TME may encourage increased utilization in the future, although demographic variations may impact satisfaction with TME.

Automated summary

The study found that adoption of telemedicine was slow in surgical specialties before the COVID-19 pandemic, with both surgeons and caregivers reporting low prior experience. However, satisfaction with telemedicine during the pandemic was generally high. Surgeon age was inversely related to satisfaction with telemedicine, while higher income households reported higher audiovisual satisfaction with telemedicine.