Teleoncology uptake in British Columbia

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Telehealth facilitates specialized healthcare access for remote populations.
• Teleoncology, a subset of telehealth, aims to extend cancer care services.
• Understanding current teleoncology adoption is crucial for expanding its reach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the current utilization of teleoncology services in mainland British Columbia.
• To identify the types of practitioners and patient demographics involved in teleoncology.
• To pinpoint geographical areas with high and low teleoncology appointment volumes.

Main Methods:

• Extracted patient appointment data from the Cancer Agency Information System (CAIS) for the 2009 calendar year.
• Analyzed telehealth encounters by practitioner type, specialty, and geographic location.
• Identified key performance indicators for teleoncology services.

Main Results:

• A total of 712 telehealth encounters were recorded, predominantly by Medical Oncologists (83.6%).
• Gastro-intestinal and lymphoma follow-up appointments were the most common oncology teleconsultations.
• A single Medical Oncologist accounted for over half of all telehealth appointments, highlighting potential over-reliance.
• Radiation Oncologists were not utilizing telehealth at the time of the study.
• Kamloops, Penticton, and Cranbrook showed the highest volumes of teleoncology appointments.

Conclusions:

• Teleoncology adoption in rural and remote British Columbia is currently limited.
• There is substantial opportunity for increased teleoncology use.
• Further research is needed to identify and address barriers to teleoncology adoption.