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. 2021 Jul;51(7):1038-1042.
doi: 10.1111/imj.15168.

Telehealth model of care for outpatient inflammatory bowel disease care in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic

Rushab Shah  1 , Emily Wright  1 , George Tambakis  1 , Jacinta Holmes  1 , Alexander Thompson  1 , William Connell  1 , Mark Lust  1 , Ola Niewiadomski  1 , Michael Kamm  1 , Chamara Basnayake  1 , John Ding  1
Affiliations

Telehealth model of care for outpatient inflammatory bowel disease care in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic

Rushab Shah et al. Intern Med J. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Advances in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) monitoring, greater number of available treatments and a shift towards tight disease control, IBD care has become more dynamic with regular follow ups.

Aims: We assessed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient IBD patient care at a tertiary centre in Melbourne. More specifically, we assessed patient satisfaction with a telehealth model of care, failure to attend rates at IBD clinics and work absenteeism prior to and during the pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, qualitative analysis to assess our aims through an online survey. We invited patients who attended an IBD outpatient clinic from April to June 2020 to participate. This study was conducted at a single, tertiary referral hospital in Melbourne. The key data points that we analysed were patient satisfaction with a telehealth model of care and the effect of telehealth clinics on work absenteeism.

Results: One hundred and nineteen (88.1%) patients were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with the care received in the telehealth clinic. Eighty-four (60.4%) patients reported needing to take time off work to attend a face-to-face appointment, compared to 29 (20.9%) patients who needed to take time off work to attend telehealth appointments (P < 0.001). Clinic non-attendance rates were similar prior to and during the pandemic with rates of 11.4% and 10.4% respectively (P = 0.840).

Conclusions: Patients report high levels of satisfaction with a telehealth model of care during the COVID-19 pandemic, with clinic attendance rates not being affected. Telehealth appointments significantly reduced work absenteeism when compared to traditional face-to-face clinics.

Keywords: COVID-19; inflammatory bowel disease; outpatient clinic; telehealth.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of patients requiring time off work to attend clinic appointments: face‐to‐face and telehealth.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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