Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36636688›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of clinical and experimental urology2022

The state of telehealth: 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic - back to business as usual?

Ahmad N Alzubaidi, Xuanjia Fan, Eric Eidelman, Vonn Walter, Joe O Littlejohn, Jay D Raman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ahmad N AlzubaidiDepartment of Urology, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA, USA.
Xuanjia FanPenn State College of Medicine, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA, USA.
Eric EidelmanDepartment of Urology, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA, USA.
Vonn WalterDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Penn State University College of Medicine Hershey, PA, USA.
Joe O LittlejohnDepartment of Urology, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA, USA.
Jay D RamanDepartment of Urology, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionTelemedicine (TM) was underutilized prior to the COVID-19 pandemic presumably due to non-standardized reimbursement routes and a perceived lack of need. Early experience with the pandemic necessitated this form of medical care, although durability of consistent delivery remains in question. We quantify the utilization patterns of TM over the past 2 years over multiple waves of the pandemic across various service lines in a large rural health system. MATERIALS: Data of TM utilization were prospectively collected between March 2020-January 2022. Rates of adoption among the various surgical and non-surgical services disciplines were compared. Subgroup analyses between different surgical subspecialties and within the urologic subspecialties was performed.

results3.5 million visits were recorded; 3.14 million (90%) on-site and 349,989 (10%) TM; 254,919 (73%) video-assisted and 95,070 (27%) were telephonic. Throughout the pandemic, non-surgical services utilized TM to a greater extent than surgical services (mean% 12 vs 6). Significant variation in the utilization among surgical services was reported, with Urology representing a high utilizer (15%); Among Urologic subspecialties utilization, Endourology (28%) was highest and Pediatric Urology (5%) was lowest. Following an initial spike in TM utilization during the pandemic, rates have declined and plateaued at 5-7% of all visits over the past 6-months.

conclusionTM utilization in this large health system has remained under 10% following the initial surge in 2020. Non-surgical services preferentially use TM more than surgical domains. Certain subspecialties utilize TM more than others, possible due to patient population, practice patterns and medical conditions. Barriers to adoption are essential to determine the relatively low volume of use across this health system.

Indexed as

COVID-19deliveryhealthcareTelemedicinetrends

Identifiers

PMID36636688
PMCPMC9831913

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.