TY - JOUR
T1 - Cancer care continuum at a tertiary care centre in India during the Covid-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown
T2 - Healthcare delivery through telemedicine
AU - Gokarn, Anant
AU - Joshi, Amit
AU - Wadasadawala, Tabassum
AU - Gulia, Seema
AU - Wakle, Swapnil
AU - Singh, Anuj
AU - Tiloda, Apoorva
AU - Singh, Abhishek
AU - Chakraborty, Debanjan
AU - Subramani, Vignesh
AU - Bajaj, Pooja
AU - Chintala, Sravan Kumar
AU - Pathak, Bhagyashree
AU - Simha, Vijai
AU - Sood, Sahil
AU - Kalra, Babusha
AU - Bhandari, Manasi
AU - Avonu, Sale
AU - Elamarthy, Prahalad
AU - Das, Shasanka
AU - Dash, Rabi Shankar
AU - Jansari, Jayshree
AU - Sehra, Nishtha
AU - Vispute, Tejas
AU - Thakur, Jagruti
AU - Gawade, Laxman
AU - Vemuri, Chandana
AU - Nekkanti, Siddhartha
AU - Bansod, Yogesh
AU - Chauhan, Lovedeep
AU - Chhatrala, Renish
AU - Gurukeerthi, B.
AU - Shankar, Ravi
AU - Narayanan, R.
AU - Preeti, V.
AU - Shetty, Preethi
AU - Dikshit, Rajesh
AU - Khattry, Navin
AU - Gupta, Sudeep
AU - Goel, Nishu
AU - Badwe, Rajendra A.
PY - 2022/5/1
Y1 - 2022/5/1
N2 - Background The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown in India caused disruptions in cancer treatment due to the restriction on movement of patients. We aimed to maintain continuity in cancer treatment during the lockdown through teleconsultations. We tried to reach out to our patients using telephonic consultations by establishing a Teleconsult Centre facility run by a team of doctors and patient navigators. Methods We telephonically contacted all patients who had outpatient appointments from 23 March to 30 April 2020 at our centre through the Teleconsult Centre to understand their current circumstances, feasibility of follow-up, local resources and offered best possible alternatives to continue cancer treatment, if required. Results Of the 2686 patients scheduled for follow-up during this period, we could contact 1783 patients in 9 working days. Through teleconsultations, we could defer follow-ups of 1034 patients (57.99%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 55.6%-60.3%), thus reducing the need for patients to travel to the hospital. Change in systemic therapy was made in 75 patients (4.2%, 95% CI 3.3%-5.2%) as per the requirements and available resources. Symptoms suggestive of disease progression were picked up in 12 patients (0.67%, 95% CI 0.35%-1.17%), who were advised to meet local physicians. Conclusion Our study suggests that the majority of patients on follow-up can be managed with teleconsultation in times of crisis. Teleconsultation has the potential of being one of the standard methods of patient follow-up even during periods of normalcy.
AB - Background The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown in India caused disruptions in cancer treatment due to the restriction on movement of patients. We aimed to maintain continuity in cancer treatment during the lockdown through teleconsultations. We tried to reach out to our patients using telephonic consultations by establishing a Teleconsult Centre facility run by a team of doctors and patient navigators. Methods We telephonically contacted all patients who had outpatient appointments from 23 March to 30 April 2020 at our centre through the Teleconsult Centre to understand their current circumstances, feasibility of follow-up, local resources and offered best possible alternatives to continue cancer treatment, if required. Results Of the 2686 patients scheduled for follow-up during this period, we could contact 1783 patients in 9 working days. Through teleconsultations, we could defer follow-ups of 1034 patients (57.99%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 55.6%-60.3%), thus reducing the need for patients to travel to the hospital. Change in systemic therapy was made in 75 patients (4.2%, 95% CI 3.3%-5.2%) as per the requirements and available resources. Symptoms suggestive of disease progression were picked up in 12 patients (0.67%, 95% CI 0.35%-1.17%), who were advised to meet local physicians. Conclusion Our study suggests that the majority of patients on follow-up can be managed with teleconsultation in times of crisis. Teleconsultation has the potential of being one of the standard methods of patient follow-up even during periods of normalcy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143318892&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85143318892&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.25259/NMJI-35-3-142
DO - 10.25259/NMJI-35-3-142
M3 - Article
C2 - 36461874
AN - SCOPUS:85143318892
SN - 0970-258X
VL - 35
SP - 142
EP - 146
JO - The National medical journal of India
JF - The National medical journal of India
IS - 3
ER -