Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 11, 2025
Digital Home-Monitoring of Patients after Kidney Transplantation: The MACCS Platform
Published on: April 12, 2021
Pediatric subspecialty telemedicine use from the patient and provider perspective
Rajdeep Pooni1, Natalie M Pageler2, Christy Sandborg2
1Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA. rpooni@stanford.edu.
Insights
Pediatric subspecialty telemedicine visits during COVID-19 showed patient satisfaction and provider innovation. Telemedicine successfully adapted to patient and provider needs, demonstrating its value in pediatric care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Subspecialty Care
- Telehealth and Digital Health
- Health Services Research
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid adoption of telemedicine in pediatric subspecialties.
- Few studies evaluated telemedicine performance from simultaneous patient and provider perspectives in standard pediatric care.
- Prior to the pandemic, pediatric telehealth adoption was limited, with many practices having only pilot programs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize telemedicine use in pediatric subspecialties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To assess clinical applications, provider experiences, and patient perceptions of telemedicine.
- To identify novel adaptations and innovations in pediatric telehealth delivery.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods study analyzing 40 video visits across pediatric endocrinology, nephrology, orthopedic surgery, and rheumatology.
- Deductive analysis of observational visit data.
- Surveys of providers and patients/caregivers on satisfaction and communication.
Main Results:
- Telemedicine adaptations included shared-screen use and provider-guided procedures.
- All providers deemed video visits safest; 72.7% performed some clinical exam component.
- Patients highly rated respect and care; overall satisfaction averaged 86.7%.
Conclusions:
- Telemedicine effectively delivered care to pediatric patients during the pandemic.
- Patients reported satisfaction, and providers demonstrated innovation in adapting visits.
- Telemedicine is a valuable, adaptable tool for pediatric subspecialty care, warranting further study.
Background:
To characterize telemedicine use among pediatric subspecialties with respect to clinical uses of telemedicine, provider experience, and patient perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
We performed a mixed-methods study of telemedicine visits across pediatric endocrinology, nephrology, orthopedic surgery, and rheumatology at a large children's hospital. We used deductive analysis to review observational data from 40 video visits. Providers and patients/caregivers were surveyed around areas of satisfaction and communication.
Results:
We found adaptations of telemedicine including shared-screen use and provider-guided parent procedures among others. All providers felt that it was safest for their patients to conduct visits by video, and 72.7% reported completing some component of a clinical exam. Patients rated the areas of being respected by the clinical staff/provider and showing care and concern highly, and the mean overall satisfaction was 86.7 ± 19.3%.
Conclusions:
Telemedicine has been used to deliver care to pediatric patients during the pandemic, and we found that patients were satisfied with the telemedicine visits during this stressful time and that providers were able to innovate during visits. Telemedicine is a tool that can be successfully adapted to patient and provider needs, but further studies are needed to fully explore its integration in pediatric subspecialty care.
Impact:
This study describes telemedicine use at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic from both a provider and patient perspective, in four different pediatric subspecialties. Prior to COVID-19, pediatric telehealth landscape analysis suggested that many pediatric specialty practices had pilot telehealth programs, but there are few published studies evaluating telemedicine performance through the simultaneous patient and provider experience as part of standard care. We describe novel uses and adaptations of telemedicine during a time of rapid deployment in pediatric specialty care.
More Related Videos
09:55Bridging the Technology Divide in the COVID-19 Era: Using Virtual Outreach to Expose Middle and High School Students to Imaging Technology
Published on: September 28, 2022
05:57A Teleoperated Robotic System-Assisted Percutaneous Transiliac-Transsacral Screw Fixation Technique
Published on: January 6, 2023
Related Concept Videos
01:29Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
01:13Patient-centered Care
01:26Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...
01:26Types of Reports III: Telephone and Verbal Reports
Here's an overview of each type:
Telephone Orders
01:30Current Trends in Nursing II