Fully remote management of patients treated with radiation as a component of patient-centered care: Safety, satisfaction, financial and environmental impact
Faculty and Abstracts
Purpose: Since the relaxation of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, patients are now offered a choice of either in person or remote visits for their radiation oncology care at a large regional network of an academic cancer center. Here we report on the safety, satisfaction, financial impact, and environmental impact of a cohort of patients treated with radiotherapy who opted for fully remote providers.
Methodology: At the time of new visit consultation scheduling, patients were offered remote consultation if availability of preferred onsite providers was limited. If patients were deemed suitable by providers at initial consultation, they were offered fully remote care during radiation. Patient safety events were prospectively collected with an in-house quality improvement reporting system. Patient satisfaction surveys assessing their experience (including appointment logistics, patient-physician communication, and overall impressions) were completed before, during and after treatment. Patient transportation costs and environmental impact were estimated based on differences in travel distance.
Results: From 10/2020 to 10/2022, a total of 2817 patients treated with radiation opted for fully remote management. We found that 99.7% of reported safety events did not reach the patient or caused no harm to patients. 96.2% of all patient satisfaction responses were rated as Good to Very Good across all domains. Over the two-year period, total out-of-pocket cost savings for patients treated with remote treatment in the regional network was $612,912.71 ($466.45 per patient) and decreased carbon dioxide emissions by 174 metric tons.
Conclusions: Treatment with fully remote providers is safe and feasible, with no serious patient events. We observed high patient satisfaction, cost savings, and decreased environmental impact. These findings support the continuation of fully remote management for select patients in the post-COVID era.
