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Telemedicine use in orthopaedics: Experience during the COVID-19 pandemic
Brian Z Chin1, Nazrul Nashi1, Shuxun Lin1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, 150744National University Health System, Singapore.
Insights
Telemedicine effectively maintained orthopaedic outpatient care during COVID-19, with high patient and surgeon satisfaction. This digital health approach facilitated social distancing and integrated healthcare delivery.
Area of Science:
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Digital Health
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated alternative healthcare delivery models to minimize disease transmission.
- Maintaining continuity of care for orthopaedic outpatients presented challenges due to the need for social distancing.
- Telemedicine emerged as a critical tool for healthcare systems globally.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe a single-centre experience implementing telemedicine in an orthopaedic practice.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of telemedicine in managing outpatient orthopaedic follow-up.
- To outline a systematic workflow for teleconsultations in orthopaedics.
Main Methods:
- Development of a comprehensive telemedicine model for orthopaedic outpatient care.
- Detailed description of workforce assembly, patient selection, and logistics.
- Establishment of clear roles and responsibilities for all involved personnel.
Main Results:
- High satisfaction rates reported by both patients and orthopaedic surgeons.
- Minimal communication and clinical barriers were observed compared to in-person visits.
- The protocol enabled rapid adoption of telemedicine, supporting national healthcare digitization initiatives.
Conclusions:
- Teleconsultation services provide an effective method for orthopaedic healthcare delivery.
- Telemedicine facilitates essential social distancing measures, crucial for combating COVID-19.
- The implementation of telemedicine represents a significant step towards a new, digitally integrated healthcare paradigm.
Introduction:
With a recent resurgence of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases globally, an increasing number of healthcare systems are adopting telemedicine as an alternative method of healthcare delivery in a bid to decrease disease transmission. Continued care of orthopaedic patients in the outpatient setting during the coronavirus disease of 2019 era can prove challenging without a systematic workflow, adequate logistics, and careful patient selection for teleconsultation. The aim of this paper is to describe our single-centre experience with the application of telemedicine in our orthopaedic practice, and its effectiveness in maintaining outpatient follow-up of orthopaedic patients.
Methodology:
We describe our centre's telemedicine model of care for orthopaedic patients on the outpatient follow-up - which includes workforce assembly, population health and target patients, logistics and communications, and overall workflow - with roles and responsibilities of involved people portrayed in detail.
Results:
Feedback from both patients and orthopaedic surgeons reflected high satisfaction rates with care provided, noting minimal communication and clinical barriers compared to face-to-face consultations. Whilst not without limitations, our protocol allowed for rapid adoption of telemedicine in line with a national-wide initiative to digitize healthcare.
Discussion:
The implementation of teleconsultation services at our orthopaedic centre has provided an effective method of healthcare delivery while enforcing social distancing measures - which proves vital in combating the spread of COVID-19 and ushering in a new normal.
