Defining Quality Metrics for Telemedicine in Surgery: A Critical Examination.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Surgical Innovation
• Digital Health

Background:

• Telemedicine adoption is increasing in US healthcare, improving surgical patient access and communication.
• A significant gap exists in defining and standardizing quality metrics for surgical telemedicine.
• Current literature lacks comprehensive evaluation of patient satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, and diagnostic accuracy in surgical telemedicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a structured framework for defining and implementing quality metrics for surgical telemedicine.
• To identify unique domains and considerations for telemedicine in surgical care.
• To compare the proposed framework with existing quality assessment models.

Main Methods:

• Expert consensus from the American College of Surgeons Board of Governors Telehealth Pillar.
• Application of the Donabedian model (structure, process, outcome).
• Consideration of pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative surgical care phases.
• Comparative analysis with Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and World Health Organization (WHO) frameworks.

Main Results:

• A novel framework for surgical telemedicine quality metrics is proposed.
• The framework incorporates hospital structure, patient/provider readiness, and policy alignment.
• Gaps in current frameworks regarding surgical applicability were identified.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework provides a foundation for standardizing surgical telemedicine quality.
• An implementation roadmap prioritizes feasible metrics and future validation.
• Collaboration is essential to ensure telemedicine enhances surgical care delivery and reduces disparities.