Rapid Utilization of Telehealth in a Comprehensive Cancer Center as a Response to COVID-19

Lonergan, P. E.; Washington, S. L.; Branagan, L.; Gleason, N.; Pruthi, R. S.; Carroll, P. R.; Odisho, A. Y.

Background: The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020 created unprecedented challenges in the provision of scheduled ambulatory cancer care. As a result, there has been a renewed focus on video consultations as a means to continue ambulatory care. Objective: To characterize the increase in video visits at the University of California, San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center in response to COVID-19 and compare demographics/appointment data from January 1, 2020 and in the 3 weeks after transition to video visits. Methods: Demographics and appointment data (dates, visit types, and departments) were abstracted from the Electronic Health Record reporting database. Video visits were performed using a HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platform with a pre-existing workflow. Results: In 17 departments and divisions at the Cancer Center, 2,284 video visits were performed in the pre-COVID-19 period (average 208 {+/-} 75 per week) and 3,015 performed in the 3-week post-COVID-19 period (average 1,005 {+/-} 149 per week). The proportion of video visits increased from 7-18% to 54-68%, between the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods without any disparity based on race/ethnicity, primary language, or insurance Conclusions: In a remarkably brief period of time, we rapidly scaled the utilization of telehealth in response to COVID-19 and maintained access to complex oncologic care at a time of social distancing.