Bart, Nicole K and Emmanuel, Sam and Friits-Lamora, Rodrigo and Larkins, Emily and Kotlyar, Eugene and Muthiah, Kavitha and Jabbour, Andrew and Hayward, Christopher and Jansz, Paul C and Keogh, Anne M and Thomas, Emma E and Macdonald, Peter S (2024) Rapid triage and transition to telehealth for heart transplant patients in the COVID-19 pandemic setting. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 30 (9). pp.1481-1486. ISSN 1357-633X
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapid uptake of telehealth services was instituted with the aim of reducing the spread of disease to vulnerable patient populations including heart transplant recipients. METHODS: Single-center, cohort study of all heart transplant patients seen by our institution's transplant program during the first 6 weeks of transition from in-person consultation to telehealth (23 March - 5 June 2020). RESULTS: Face-to-face consultation allocation strongly favored patients in the early post-operative period (34 vs. 242 weeks post-transplant; p < 0.001). Telehealth consultation dramatically reduced patient travel and wait times (80 min per visit saved in telehealth patients). No apparent excess re-hospitalization or mortality was seen in telehealth patients. CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate triage, telehealth was feasible in heart transplant recipients, with videoconferencing being the preferred modality. Patients seen face-to-face were those triaged to be higher acuity based on time since transplant and overall clinical status. These patients have the expected higher rates of hospital re-admission, and therefore should continue to be seen in person.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | R Medicine > R Medicine (General) |
| Depositing User: | Repository Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Dec 2024 04:21 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Dec 2024 04:22 |
| URI: | https://eprints.victorchang.edu.au/id/eprint/1599 |
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