Surgical Telemedicine in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era

Surgery Clinical Trial

Official title:

Surgical Telemedicine in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04376710
• Other study ID #: 20-1177
• Status: Completed
• Start date: July 1, 2020
• Est. completion date: October 1, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: October 2020
• Source: University of Colorado, Denver
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in initial or follow-up encounters between surgical patients and physicians. While this delay allows for resource allocation to those most severely affected by the pandemic, surgeons are faced with potential important delays in diagnosis and the expanding backlog of elective cases and initial evaluations.

This project will assess surgeon and patient telemedicine perspectives. Pre-pandemic views on telemedicine among a cohort of surgeons will be obtained and compared to views at 3 months from the peak of the pandemic. Patients will be surveyed following telemedicine appointments with an anonymous questionnaire to learn about patient receptiveness to telemedicine. Barriers to implementation will be addressed throughout the duration of the study.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 180
• Est. completion date: October 1, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: October 1, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 31 Days to 18 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

1. Surgical faculty at participating institutions will receive surveys regarding telemedicine early in the start of the study to assess baseline perceptions. These same group of surgeons will receive subsequent surveys 3 months after the peak of the pandemic to evaluate telemedicine perceptions following a rapid implementation and adoption of telemedicine.

2. Surgical patients evaluated from the start of the study through a 6-month period will be included in the study. They will have the option after each telemedicine encounter to complete an anonymous survey regarding perceptions to this technology.

Exclusion Criteria

1. No exclusions for surgical faculty are identified. Accrual of data from this group will be limited only by response rates to administered surveys.

2. Exclusions for surgical patients will include the inability to access the technology required for a telemedicine consultation (e.g.: absence of a camera enabled smartphone, absence of a required internet or cellular connection to perform a telemedicine encounter). The investigators will keep a list of reasons for the inability to perform a telemedicine encounter to identify the barriers to implementation among patients.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• COVID
• Surgery

Intervention

Other:
• Completion of pre-pandemic survey
Surgeons will take a pre-pandemic survey to determine surgeon perceptions to telemedicine and barriers to implementation.
• Completion of survey after peak of pandemic
Surgeons will take another survey after the peak of pandemic to determine surgeon perceptions to telemedicine and barriers to implementation.
• Completion of post telemedicine encounter survey
Patients will take a post telemedicine encounter survey to determine patient perceptions to telemedicine and barriers to implementation.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Children's Hospital Colorado	Aurora	Colorado

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Colorado, Denver

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Evaluate surgeon perceptions to telemedicine and perceived barriers to implementation	Surgeons will take an anonymous survey early after the start of the study regarding perceptions to telemedicine and perceived barriers to implementation. Surgeons will be asked again after 3 months from the peak of the pandemic to take another survey to assess how the pandemic has changed perceptions to telemedicine and the observed barriers to implementation.	6 months
Primary	Evaluate patient perceptions to telemedicine and perceived barriers to implementation	Patients will take an optional anonymous survey at the end of each telemedicine encounter to assess patient perceptions to telemedicine and barriers to implementation.	6 months