Enhanced Telehealth in Prostate Cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Digital Health

Background:

• Prostate cancer treatment, particularly androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), often necessitates frequent in-person visits.
• These frequent visits create significant burdens for patients, including travel, financial costs, and time away from daily life.
• Enhanced telehealth offers a patient-centered and efficient alternative to traditional in-person care models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and implementation context of an enhanced telehealth program for prostate cancer patients.
• To assess patient and clinician satisfaction with various components of enhanced telehealth.
• To gather data supporting the further development of telehealth solutions in oncology.

Main Methods:

• A multiphase quality improvement study involving adult prostate cancer patients on ADT.
• Phase 1: Semistructured interviews with stakeholders to identify implementation considerations.
• Phase 2: Piloted enhanced telehealth including remote blood pressure (BP) monitoring, mobile phlebotomy, and at-home injections.

Main Results:

• High patient-level completion rates were observed for remote BP monitoring (91.9%), home phlebotomy (96.3%), and at-home injections (90.0%).
• Visit-level completion rates exceeded 65% for all components, with telehealth and phlebotomy showing over 90% completion.
• Patients and clinicians reported high satisfaction and rated all enhanced telehealth components as acceptable, appropriate, and feasible.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced telehealth, incorporating remote monitoring and in-home services, is a feasible and well-accepted care delivery model for prostate cancer patients.
• The study demonstrated high completion and satisfaction rates, supporting the integration of enhanced telehealth into routine oncology practice.
• These findings advocate for the continued development and implementation of enhanced telehealth to improve patient-centered cancer care.