While COVID-19 catalyzed a shift to telemedicine, little is known about the persistence of remote cancer care in non-emergent times. We assessed telemedicine use at a high-volume academic cancer center in New York City and analyzed breast and prostate cancer visits pre-COVID-19, peak COVID-19, and post-peak. Descriptive statistics assessed visit mode (in person, telemedicine) and type (new, follow-up, other) by department/specialty, with Fisher’s exact tests comparing peak/post-peak differences. The study included 602,233 visits, with telemedicine comprising 2% of visits pre-COVID-19, 50% peak COVID-19, and 30% post-peak. Notable variations emerged by department/specialty and visit type. Post-peak, most departments/specialties continued using telemedicine near or above peak levels, except medicine, neurology, and survivorship, where remote care fell. In psychiatry, social work, and nutrition, nearly all visits were conducted remotely during and after peak COVID-19, while surgery and nursing maintained low telemedicine usage. Post-peak, anesthesiology and neurology used telemedicine seldom for new visits but often for follow-ups, while nursing showed the opposite pattern. These trends suggest department- and visit-specific contexts where providers and patients choose telemedicine in non-emergent conditions. More research is needed to explore these findings and evaluate telemedicine’s appropriateness and impact across the care continuum.
尽管COVID-19推动了远程医疗的普及，但关于非紧急时期远程癌症诊疗持续性的研究仍显不足。本研究评估了纽约市一家高接诊量学术癌症中心的远程医疗使用情况，分析了乳腺癌和前列腺癌患者在疫情前、疫情高峰期及峰后阶段的就诊数据。通过描述性统计方法，我们按科室/专业分类评估了就诊模式（面对面诊疗、远程医疗）与就诊类型（初诊、复诊、其他），并采用费希尔精确检验比较了高峰期与峰后阶段的差异。研究共纳入602,233次就诊记录，其中远程医疗占比在疫情前为2%，疫情高峰期升至50%，峰后阶段保持在30%。数据显示，不同科室/专业及就诊类型存在显著差异。峰后阶段，除内科、神经科和生存照护科的远程诊疗量下降外，多数科室/专业的远程医疗使用率仍接近或高于峰值水平。精神科、社会工作科及营养科在疫情高峰期及峰后阶段几乎全部采用远程诊疗，而外科和护理科则始终维持较低的远程医疗使用率。峰后阶段，麻醉科和神经科对新患者极少采用远程医疗，但对复诊患者使用频繁；护理科则呈现相反模式。这些趋势表明，在非紧急情况下，医疗服务提供者与患者对远程医疗的选择具有显著的科室特性与就诊类型特异性。未来需进一步探究这些现象，并评估远程医疗在整个诊疗过程中的适用性及影响。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家