Insights on Telemedicine Use by Physiatrists Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

  1. M. J. Sobrepera
  2. A. Weseloh
  3. D. Chaudhri
  4. M. J. Johnson

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine if physiatrists increased their use of telemedicine during the first 11 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and if changes are expected to persist post-pandemic. And to identify key tasks which require video for telemedicine.

Materials and Methods

A survey containing questions about the telemedicine tools used before, during, and after (planned) the COVID-19 pandemic was distributed to physiatrists. Analysis was conducted to evaluate the change in usage of telemedicine due to the pandemic and predict whether the pandemic will lead to a durable change in usage. Tasks which physiatrists have/believe they can complete with different modes of interaction were explored.

Results

Responses from 56 physiatrists showed a 105% increase in video-based telemedicine use during the pandemic. The use of phone and video communications for care delivery significantly increased. 79% of respondents planned to use video-based telemedicine post-pandemic, a significant increase from pre-pandemic use. Motor assessments, cognitive assessments, stretching, strength building, and orthotics assessment and prescription were identified as key tasks that require video for telemedicine.

Conclusion

This study confirms increased use of telemedicine by physiatrists during the pandemic and suggests this shift will be durable. Key tasks where video is necessary for telemedicine were identified.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2022.02.19.22270722: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: The survey, distribution plan, and general analysis plan was approved by the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Broad data collection via REDCap [9] survey began on June 30th, 2020, and physiatrist data collection concluded on January 10th, 2021.
    REDCap
    suggested: (REDCap, RRID:SCR_003445)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Study Limitations: This study has several limitations. The study has a relatively small sample size of 56 with most responses from the United States, specifically providers practicing in urban settings in Pennsylvania which limits its generalizability. As it was part of a broader focused study also assessing therapist considerations as well as use of the socially interactive robotic platform Flo, survey questions were not targeting the physiatrist cohort directly and more targeted questions could have been used. The chosen statistical analysis, using the method provided by Liddell, is a test of marginal homogeneity, which ignores the subjects who fall on the diagonal of a contingency table (did not change their value over the condition boundary; ex: used telepresence before and during the pandemic). As such, some portion of the data is not considered when testing significance. Despite these limitations, our research provides insight on how physiatrists responded to the pandemic with greater use of telemedicine, of the perceived capabilities of currently used telemedicine methods, and physiatrists disposition to implementing telemedicine post-pandemic.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2022.02.19.22270722v1 on medRxiv