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- Title
Patient satisfaction and cost savings analysis of the telemedicine program within a neuro-oncology department.
- Authors
Liu, James K. C.; Kang, Richard; Bilenkin, Arkady; Prorok, Rachel; Whiting, Junmin; Patel, Krupal B.; Beer-Furlan, Andre; Naso, Cristina; Rogers, Andrea; Castro, Xavier Baez; Peguero, Edwin; Mokhtari, Sepideh; Tran, Nam; Etame, Arnold; Pina, Yolanda; Spiess, Philippe E.; Forsyth, Peter; Vogelbaum, Michael A.
- Abstract
Purpose: Unique challenges exist in the utilization of telemedicine for neurological and surgical specialties. We examined the differences in patient satisfaction for telemedicine versus in-person visits within a Neuro-Oncology Program to assess whether there was a difference between surgical and medical specialties. We also examined the potential cost savings benefits of utilizing telemedicine. Methods: 1189 Press Ganey surveys in the Department of Neuro-Oncology (982 in-person and 207 telemedicine) by surgical and medical neuro-oncology patients between 04/01/2020 and 06/30/2021 were reviewed. Survey results were divided into 4 categories (Access, Provider, Technology (telemedicine only), and Overall Satisfaction). Results were analyzed for the impact of telemedicine versus in-person visits, and gender, age, insurance, and specialty. Cost savings were calculated based on potential travel distance and lost productivity. Results: Survey results from telemedicine visits demonstrated that patients with private insurance returned higher scores in the Provider (p = 0.0089), Technology (p = 0.00187), and Overall (p = 0.00382) categories. Surgical patients returned higher scores for Access (p = 0.0015), Technology (p = 0.0002), and Overall (p = 0.0019). When comparing telemedicine to in-person scores, in-person scored higher in Provider (p = 0.0092) for all patients, while in-person scored higher in Access (p = 0.0252) amongst surgical patients. Cost analysis revealed that telemedicine allowed patients to save an average of 4.1 to 5.6 h per visit time and a potential cost savings of up to $223.3 ± 171.4. Conclusion: Telemedicine yields equivalent patient satisfaction when employed in surgical as compared to medical Neuro-Oncology patients with the potential to lessen the financial and time burden on neuro-oncology patients.
- Subjects
PATIENT satisfaction; COST analysis; TELEMEDICINE; SATISFACTION; MEDICAL specialties &; specialists
- Publication
Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 2022, Vol 160, Issue 2, p517
- ISSN
0167-594X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11060-022-04173-7