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. 2022 Nov;160(2):517-525.
doi: 10.1007/s11060-022-04173-7. Epub 2022 Nov 11.

Patient satisfaction and cost savings analysis of the telemedicine program within a neuro-oncology department

James K C Liu  1   2   3 , Richard Kang  4   5 , Arkady Bilenkin  4   5 , Rachel Prorok  4   5 , Junmin Whiting  6 , Krupal B Patel  7 , Andre Beer-Furlan  4 , Cristina Naso  8 , Andrea Rogers  4 , Xavier Baez Castro  4 , Edwin Peguero  4 , Sepideh Mokhtari  4 , Nam Tran  4 , Arnold Etame  4 , Yolanda Pina  4 , Philippe E Spiess  9 , Peter Forsyth  4 , Michael A Vogelbaum  4
Affiliations

Patient satisfaction and cost savings analysis of the telemedicine program within a neuro-oncology department

James K C Liu et al. J Neurooncol. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: Unique challenges exist in the utilization of telemedicine for neurological and surgical specialties. We examined the differences in patient satisfaction for telemedicine versus in-person visits within a Neuro-Oncology Program to assess whether there was a difference between surgical and medical specialties. We also examined the potential cost savings benefits of utilizing telemedicine.

Methods: 1189 Press Ganey surveys in the Department of Neuro-Oncology (982 in-person and 207 telemedicine) by surgical and medical neuro-oncology patients between 04/01/2020 and 06/30/2021 were reviewed. Survey results were divided into 4 categories (Access, Provider, Technology (telemedicine only), and Overall Satisfaction). Results were analyzed for the impact of telemedicine versus in-person visits, and gender, age, insurance, and specialty. Cost savings were calculated based on potential travel distance and lost productivity.

Results: Survey results from telemedicine visits demonstrated that patients with private insurance returned higher scores in the Provider (p = 0.0089), Technology (p = 0.00187), and Overall (p = 0.00382) categories. Surgical patients returned higher scores for Access (p = 0.0015), Technology (p = 0.0002), and Overall (p = 0.0019). When comparing telemedicine to in-person scores, in-person scored higher in Provider (p = 0.0092) for all patients, while in-person scored higher in Access (p = 0.0252) amongst surgical patients. Cost analysis revealed that telemedicine allowed patients to save an average of 4.1 to 5.6 h per visit time and a potential cost savings of up to $223.3 ± 171.4.

Conclusion: Telemedicine yields equivalent patient satisfaction when employed in surgical as compared to medical Neuro-Oncology patients with the potential to lessen the financial and time burden on neuro-oncology patients.

Keywords: Cost savings; Neuro-oncology; Neurosurgery; Press Ganey; Telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Press Ganey results for Telemedicine and In-Person visits. (A) Press Ganey results were divided into 4 separate categories: Access, Provider, Telemedicine Technology, and Overall Assessment. The survey results were compared by patient gender, age, insurance type and surgical vs. medical specialty for both telemedicine visits as well as in-person visits. (B) Direct comparisons between telemedicine and in-person survey results were performed for Access, Provider, and Overall Assessment. * = P ≤ 0.05, ** = P ≤ 0.01, *** = P ≤ 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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