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

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.

Spine surgeon perceptions of the challenges and benefits of telemedicine: an international study

“…Based on our survey, we found that telemedicine provides significant advantages in the current socially distanced environment. Recent evidence suggests that spine telemedicine is feasible [5,11,14], but there are doubts about whether telemedicine will continue to be a viable option once shelter-in-place demands subside due to provider preferences and patient demand [15]. We found that 95.4% of our respondents required one in-person visit prior to surgery and overwhelmingly favored in-person visits, echoing the concerns over whether clinicians will continue to offer telemedicine in the future.…”

“…Telemedicine usage among spine surgeons has rapidly risen in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and social distancing directives [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In a global survey investigating the impact of COVID-19 on spine surgeons, Louie et al [1] found that 35.6% of respondents were performing the majority of appointments via telemedicine by the end of the first quarter of 2020.…”

Provider confidence in the telemedicine spine evaluation: results from a global study

“…Additionally, as institutions integrate telemedicine into their practices, it will be important to provide exposure to this new technology in a graduated fashion. When possible, institutional adoption of telemedicine should include training on the differences between telemedicine and in-person visits, simulated visits, exposure of house staff to telemedicine and accounting for an “adjustment phase” for new providers [ 6 , 7 , 16 ], similar to the steps taken when onboarding a new provider to the practice.…”

Regarding “Telemedicine for the Spine Surgeon in the Age of COVID-19: Multicenter Experiences of Feasibility and Implementation Strategies” by Franco et al

“…The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. 1 Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Singapore, Singapore…”

“…Recently, I read with keen interest the article titled “Telemedicine for the Spine Surgeon in the Age of COVID-19: Multicenter Experiences of Feasibility and Implementation Strategies” by Franco et al 1 In their article, the authors described the experiences and salient benefits of telemedicine in spine surgery from 3 hospitals involved in the care of COVID-19 patients. They also highlight how they have adapted physical examinations to suit the nature of virtual consultation, such as replacing traditional muscle strength testing with more objective strength and functional testing using household objects, which are arguably more useful in determining which patients should undergo surgery.…”