Telemedicine Usage Among Urologists During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study
| العنوان: | Telemedicine Usage Among Urologists During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study |
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| المؤلفون: | Ana Maria Autrán Gómez, Hossein Sadeghi-Nejad, Navin C. Balaji, Malik Haffaf, Diego Santillan, Skander Zouari, Ranjith Ramasamy, W. Austin Wyant, Jeremy Yuen-Chun Teoh, Jeremy Grummet, Stacy Loeb, Juan Gómez Rivas, Reda H. Kettache, William Ong, Justin M. Dubin, James F. Borin |
| المصدر: | Journal of Medical Internet Research Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 22, Iss 11, p e21875 (2020) |
| بيانات النشر: | JMIR Publications, 2020. |
| سنة النشر: | 2020 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Adult, Male, Telemedicine, cross-sectional, telehealth, Urologists, 030232 urology & nephrology, MEDLINE, coronavirus, Health Informatics, Telehealth, perception, lcsh:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics, computer.software_genre, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Videoconferencing, Surveys and Questionnaires, Pandemic, Medicine, Humans, 030212 general & internal medicine, urology, implementation, Personal protective equipment, Reimbursement, Original Paper, business.industry, lcsh:Public aspects of medicine, COVID-19, lcsh:RA1-1270, Usability, Middle Aged, medicine.disease, usability, Cross-Sectional Studies, technology, lcsh:R858-859.7, barrier, Female, Medical emergency, business, computer |
| الوصف: | Background Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, urology was one of the specialties with the lowest rates of telemedicine and videoconferencing use. Common barriers to the implementation of telemedicine included a lack of technological literacy, concerns with reimbursement, and resistance to changes in the workplace. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020, the delivery of urological services globally has quickly shifted to telemedicine to account for the mass clinical, procedural, and operative cancellations, inadequate personal protective equipment, and shortage of personnel. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate current telemedicine usage by urologists, urologists’ perceptions on the necessity of in-person clinic appointments, the usability of telemedicine, and the current barriers to its implementation. Methods We conducted a global, cross-sectional, web-based survey to investigate the use of telemedicine before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Urologists’ perceived usability of telemedicine was assessed using a modified Delphi approach to create questions based on a modified version of the validated Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ). For the purposes of this study, telemedicine was defined as video calls only. Results A total of 620 urologists from 58 different countries and 6 continents participated in the survey. Prior to COVID-19, 15.8% (n=98) of urologists surveyed were using telemedicine in their clinical practices; during the pandemic, that proportion increased to 46.1% (n=283). Of the urologists without telemedicine experience, interest in telemedicine usage increased from 43.7% (n=139) to 80.8% (n=257) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among urologists that used telemedicine during the pandemic, 80.9% (n=244) were interested in continuing to use it in their practice. The three most commonly used platforms were Zoom, Doxy.me, and Epic, and the top three barriers to implementing telemedicine were patients’ lack of technological comprehension, patients’ lack of access to the required technology, and reimbursement concerns. Conclusions This is the first study to quantify the use, usability, and pervading interest in telemedicine among urologists during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of this pandemic, urologists’ usage of telemedicine nearly tripled, demonstrating their ability to adopt and adapt telemedicine into their practices, but barriers involving the technology itself are still preventing many from utilizing it despite increasing interest. |
| اللغة: | English |
| تدمد: | 1438-8871 1439-4456 |
| URL الوصول: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::338790556d992b1edff28b4dd0511190 http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7647472 |
| حقوق: | OPEN |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsair.doi.dedup.....338790556d992b1edff28b4dd0511190 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 14388871 14394456 |
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