Teleconsultation before chemotherapy for recently operated on patients

Background: Some operated on cancer patients require specialized complement ary chemotherapy. Often, this takes place in another institution, where the patient consults the medical oncologist before hospitalization. The aim of this study was to analyze the potential benefit of a videoconference consu ltation within this framework. Methods: Sixteen operated on cancer patients hospitalized in the Surgical U nit received a teleconsultation in the presence of their surgeon and with t he chemotherapist at some distance. During this period, the modalities of c hemotherapy proposed, the duration of the teleconsultation, the economy of transport, and so on were noted. Twenty-four hours later each patient fille d in a questionnaire aimed at, one, evaluating the quality of the image on an visual analogue scale (VAS) and the potential inconvenience involved; an d two, evaluating the index of patient satisfaction on VAS. Furthermore, th e last 12 patients filled in a questionnaire adapted to each of them, accor ding to the information they had received. Each correct answer was noted 1, and each incorrect answer was noted 0. A memorization percentage was deduc ed. Results: The average age of the 16 patients was 63.4 years (range 46 to 78) . The average duration of the teleconsultation was 27 minutes (12 to 40). T he index of image satisfaction was 61.3%. As for the last 12 patients, 9.8 questions (7 to 12) enabled the calculation at 24 hours of the percentage o f data retained by the patient (memorization index) based on the modalities and consequences of the chemotherapy. The percentage of correct answers wa s 80.5%. Fourteen of the 16 patients considered that teleconsultation had i ts advantages. Two patients would have preferred a classic consultation. Th e global satisfaction index was 79.9%. The average cost of functioning per patient was 187.76 FF A saving in transport of 509.92 FF was recorded per p atient. Conclusions: In the context of this original study, teleconsultation neithe r altered the doctor-patient relationship nor the quality of the message tr ansmitted. Furthermore, it encourages closer links between complementary te ams working at a distance and multidisciplinarity in cancerology. (C) 2001 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.