Teleconsultation in vascular surgery: a 13 year single centre experience

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Telemedicine
• Health Informatics

Background:

• University Hospital of Zurich has offered an email-based medical consultation service since 1999.
• Telemedicine, specifically email teleconsultations, is a growing area in healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze 13 years of email-based medical consultations to identify those related to vascular surgery.
• To understand the demographics, common conditions, and patient intentions for seeking vascular surgery advice via email.

Main Methods:

• A 13-year period of email consultations was reviewed.
• 22 International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes specific to vascular surgery were used for initial selection.
• Questions were further screened for relevance to vascular surgery.

Main Results:

• Out of 40,062 total questions, 139 (0.3%) were identified as relevant to vascular surgery.
• The average user was 43 years old, with 61% being female.
• Varicose veins and spider veins were the most common concerns (63%), followed by arterial diseases (30%).
• Patients primarily sought treatment options (37%), diagnostic information (27%), or a second opinion (15%).
• The service provided detailed information and advice in 87% of cases and recommended referrals in 75% of cases.
• 82% of patients rated the service as good or very good.

Conclusions:

• Email teleconsultations for vascular surgery, though infrequent, are perceived positively by patients.
• The findings suggest a potential for increased utilization of telemedicine in vascular surgery.
• Further integration of email consultations could enhance patient access to vascular health information and advice.