Evaluating video-based consultations in routine clinical practice at a comprehensive cancer center

Integrating telemedicine into cancer care remains a major challenge. There are little clinical evidence for teleconsultation efficacy and safety in daily oncology practice. This study as a pioneering experience, aimed to analyze patient and physician opinions regarding the implementation of telemedicine consultations, and to identify major limitations of telehealth spread in an oncology institute.

During COVID-19 lockdown, patients and physicians who took part to at least one video-based teleconsultation between March and May 2020, were enrolled in this observational study. All eligible patients received an anonymous online questionnaire. On the other hand, all physicians eligible to participate were asked through email to complete a questionnaire.

In this study, 31 physicians and 304 patients consented to participate in this study by answering the questionnaire and were included. Regarding telemedicine satisfaction, 65.8% of patients were satisfied. The lack of clinical examination was the major limitation reported by 77% of patients. Patients belonging to a high socio-professional category were statistically more dissatisfied with the relationship with their doctor (OR = 2.31 and 95% CI [1.12; 4.74]).

This study showed promising results of incorporating video-based teleconsultations into cancer patient management. Randomized clinical trials are needed in order to accelerate the digital implementation in clinical practice.