The effects of using telemedicine for introductory bariatric surgery seminars during the COVID-19 pandemic,Surgical Endoscopy

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The effects of using telemedicine for introductory bariatric surgery seminars during the COVID-19 pandemic
Surgical Endoscopy ( IF 2.4 ) Pub Date : 2022-10-05 , DOI: 10.1007/s00464-022-09640-w
Kaela E Parnell ₁ , Justin Philip ₁ , Sarah E Billmeier ₁ , Thadeus L Trus ₁

Affiliation

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic required immediate systematic change in healthcare delivery. Many institutions relied on telemedicine as an alternative to in-person visits. There is limited data in the bariatric surgery literature to determine how telemedicine impacts patient volume. This study evaluates the effects of using telemedicine for introductory bariatric surgery seminars on patient volume at a single institution.

Methods

A retrospective review was performed before and after implementing virtual introductory seminars for bariatric surgery patients at a comprehensive metabolic and surgery center. The effect on attendance rates for introductory seminars and completion rates of bariatric surgery was evaluated.

Results

The introductory seminar attendance rate for the in-person/pre-telemedicine period, April 2019 to February 2020, was compared to that of the virtual/post-telemedicine period, June 2020 to April 2021. A total of 836 patients registered for an introductory seminar during the pre-telemedicine period with a 65.79% attendance rate. In the post-telemedicine period, 806 patients registered with a 67.87% attendance rate, which was not statistically different (p = 0.37, 95% CI − 0.03–0.07). Completion rates of bariatric surgery were analyzed using June 2019 to October 2019 as the pre-telemedicine period and June 2020 to October 2020 as the post-telemedicine period. Similarly, there was no difference between the pre-telemedicine surgery rate of 23.43% and post-telemedicine surgery rate of 19.68% (p = 0.31, 95% CI − 0.11–0.04).

Conclusion

Despite abruptly transitioning to virtual introductory bariatric seminars, there was no change in attendance rates nor was there a difference in the number of patients progressing through the program and undergoing bariatric surgery at our institution. This demonstrates similar efficacy of telemedicine and in-person introductory seminars for bariatric surgery patients, which supports telemedicine as a promising tool for this patient population in the post-pandemic era.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

COVID-19 大流行期间使用远程医疗进行减肥手术介绍研讨会的效果

背景

COVID-19 大流行要求立即对医疗保健服务进行系统性改变。许多机构依靠远程医疗作为亲自就诊的替代方案。减肥手术文献中用于确定远程医疗如何影响患者数量的数据有限。本研究评估了使用远程医疗进行减肥手术介绍研讨会对单个机构患者数量的影响。

方法

在综合代谢和手术中心为减肥手术患者实施虚拟介绍性研讨会之前和之后进行了回顾性审查。评估了介绍性研讨会出席率和减肥手术完成率的影响。

结果

将 2019 年 4 月至 2020 年 2 月现场/远程医疗前期间的介绍性研讨会出席率与 2020 年 6 月至 2021 年 4 月虚拟/远程医疗后期间的介绍性研讨会出席率进行了比较。共有 836 名患者注册参加介绍性研讨会远程医疗前阶段的研讨会，出席率 65.79%。在远程医疗后阶段，登记了 806 名患者，出勤率为 67.87%，无统计学差异（p = 0.37，95% CI − 0.03–0.07）。使用2019年6月至2019年10月作为远程医疗前阶段、2020年6月至2020年10月作为远程医疗后阶段来分析减肥手术的完成率。同样，远程医疗手术前的比率为 23.43%，远程医疗手术后的比率为 19.68%，两者之间没有差异（p = 0.31, 95% CI − 0.11–0.04)。