Telemedicine for the Spine Surgeon in the Age of COVID-19: Multicenter Experiences of Feasibility and Implementation Strategies

Overview

Journal Global Spine J

Publisher Sage Publications

Date 2020 Jul 18

PMID 32677513

Citations 10

Authors

Daniel Franco

Thiago Montenegro

Glenn A Gonzalez

Kevin Hines

Aria Mahtabfar

Melvin D Helgeson

Rakesh Patel

James Harrop

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Study Design: Multicenter study.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has obligated physicians to recur to additional resources and make drastic changes regarding the standard physician-patient encounter. In the last century, there has been a substantial improvement in technology, which over the years has opened the door to a new form of medical practicing known as telemedicine.

Methods: Healthcare workers from three hospitals involved in the care for COVID-19 patients in the united states were invited to share their experience using telemedicine to deliver clinical care to their patients.

Results: Since the appearance of this worldwide outbreak, social distancing has been a key factor in preventing the spread of the virus, for which measures have been taken to limit physical contact. Because of the ongoing situation, telemedicine has been progressively incorporated into the physician-patient encounters and quickly has become an essential component in the day-today medical practice.

Conclusions: It is feasible to deliver viable spine practice with the use of telemedicine. A proper patient selection of patients requiring virtual treatment versus those requiring in-person visits should be considered.

Citing Articles

Human resource management (HRM) strategies of medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mahdavi A, Atlasi R, Ebrahimi M, Azimian E, Naemi R Heliyon. 2023; 9(10):e20355.

PMID: 37771528 PMC: 10522956. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20355.

Reflections on the future of telemedicine and virtual spinal clinics in the post COVID-19 era.

Mazarakis N, Koutsarnakis C, Komaitis S, Drosos E, Demetriades A Brain Spine. 2022; 2:100930.

PMID: 36248094 PMC: 9375852. DOI: 10.1016/j.bas.2022.100930.

Telemedicine in practice: Patient selection and strategies adopted in spinal care during the COVID-19 era and beyond.

Rispoli R, Cappelletto B Surg Neurol Int. 2022; 13:383.

PMID: 36128140 PMC: 9479600. DOI: 10.25259/SNI_638_2022.

Physicians' perspectives and future vision on disability assessments by phone during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey.

Baart N, Hoving J, Donker-Cools B BMC Health Serv Res. 2022; 22(1):687.

PMID: 35606761 PMC: 9125537. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-022-08068-1.

Exploring patient perspectives on telemedicine monitoring within the operating room.

Abraham J, Meng A, Holzer K, Brawer L, Casarella A, Avidan M Int J Med Inform. 2021; 156:104595.

PMID: 34627112 PMC: 10627166. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2021.104595.

References

Semple J, Sharpe S, Murnaghan M, Theodoropoulos J, Metcalfe K . Using a mobile app for monitoring post-operative quality of recovery of patients at home: a feasibility study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015; 3(1):e18. PMC: 4342621. DOI: 10.2196/mhealth.3929. View

Stewart J, Fayed I, Henault S, Kalantar B, Voyadzis J . Use of a Smartphone Application for Spine Surgery Improves Patient Adherence with Preoperative Instructions and Decreases Last-minute Surgery Cancellations. Cureus. 2019; 11(3):e4192. PMC: 6504025. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.4192. View

Buvik A, Bergmo T, Bugge E, Smaabrekke A, Wilsgaard T, Olsen J . Cost-Effectiveness of Telemedicine in Remote Orthopedic Consultations: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2019; 21(2):e11330. PMC: 6399572. DOI: 10.2196/11330. View

Devries K, Kenward M, Free C . Preventing smoking relapse using text messages: analysis of data from the txt2stop trial. Nicotine Tob Res. 2012; 15(1):77-82. DOI: 10.1093/ntr/nts086. View

Debono B, Bousquet P, Sabatier P, Plas J, Lescure J, Hamel O . Postoperative monitoring with a mobile application after ambulatory lumbar discectomy: an effective tool for spine surgeons. Eur Spine J. 2016; 25(11):3536-3542. DOI: 10.1007/s00586-016-4680-4. View

Lang M, Zawati M . The app will see you now: mobile health, diagnosis, and the practice of medicine in Quebec and Ontario. J Law Biosci. 2018; 5(1):142-173. PMC: 5912086. DOI: 10.1093/jlb/lsy004. View

Newton M . The promise of telemedicine. Surv Ophthalmol. 2014; 59(5):559-67. DOI: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.02.003. View

Martinez-Ramos C, Cerdan M, Lopez R . Mobile phone-based telemedicine system for the home follow-up of patients undergoing ambulatory surgery. Telemed J E Health. 2009; 15(6):531-7. DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2009.0003. View

Cho Y, Lee S, Islam S, Kim S . Theories Applied to m-Health Interventions for Behavior Change in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review. Telemed J E Health. 2018; 24(10):727-741. PMC: 6205046. DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2017.0249. View

10.

Hersh W, Hickam D, Severance S, Dana T, Krages K, Helfand M . Diagnosis, access and outcomes: Update of a systematic review of telemedicine services. J Telemed Telecare. 2006; 12 Suppl 2:S3-31. DOI: 10.1258/135763306778393117. View

11.

Baig M, GholamHosseini H, Connolly M . Mobile healthcare applications: system design review, critical issues and challenges. Australas Phys Eng Sci Med. 2014; 38(1):23-38. DOI: 10.1007/s13246-014-0315-4. View

12.

Hjelm N . Benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine. J Telemed Telecare. 2005; 11(2):60-70. DOI: 10.1258/1357633053499886. View

13.

Goz V, Spiker W, Brodke D . Mobile messaging and smartphone apps for patient communication and engagement in spine surgery. Ann Transl Med. 2019; 7(Suppl 5):S163. PMC: 6778274. DOI: 10.21037/atm.2019.08.10. View

14.

Morawski K, Ghazinouri R, Krumme A, Lauffenburger J, Lu Z, Durfee E . Association of a Smartphone Application With Medication Adherence and Blood Pressure Control: The MedISAFE-BP Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018; 178(6):802-809. PMC: 6145760. DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0447. View

15.

Buvik A, Bugge E, Knutsen G, Smabrekke A, Wilsgaard T . Patient reported outcomes with remote orthopaedic consultations by telemedicine: A randomised controlled trial. J Telemed Telecare. 2018; 25(8):451-459. DOI: 10.1177/1357633X18783921. View

16.

Fogel A, Kvedar J . Reported Cases of Medical Malpractice in Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine. JAMA. 2019; 321(13):1309-1310. PMC: 6450271. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.0395. View

17.

Wainner R, Fritz J, Irrgang J, Boninger M, Delitto A, Allison S . Reliability and diagnostic accuracy of the clinical examination and patient self-report measures for cervical radiculopathy. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2003; 28(1):52-62. DOI: 10.1097/00007632-200301010-00014. View

18.

Glassman S, Anagnost S, Parker A, Burke D, Johnson J, Dimar J . The effect of cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on spinal fusion. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000; 25(20):2608-15. DOI: 10.1097/00007632-200010150-00011. View

19.

Patel N, Bagan B, Vadera S, Maltenfort M, Deutsch H, Vaccaro A . Obesity and spine surgery: relation to perioperative complications. J Neurosurg Spine. 2007; 6(4):291-7. DOI: 10.3171/spi.2007.6.4.1. View