Video Consultation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Single Center's Experience with Lung Transplant Recipients

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted health care systems worldwide. This is due to both to the reallocation of resources toward COVID-19 patients as well as concern for the risk of nosocomial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure. The interruption of routine care is especially problematic for patients with chronic conditions requiring regular follow-up, such as lung transplant (LTx) recipients. Introduction: New methods such as telemedicine are needed to bridge the gap in follow-up care caused by the pandemic. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of video consultations (VCs) in comparison with on-site visits (OSVs) was performed during a 6-week period in an LTx center in Germany. VC included a structured work-up questionnaire and vital sign documentation. Results: During the 6-week study period, 75 VCs were performed for 53 patients and 75 OSVs by 51 patients occurred. By the end of our study period, 77% of physician–patient contacts occurred through VC. Physician–patient consultations were reduced by 47% compared with the equivalent time frame in 2019. In 62% of cases, VC resulted in a concrete clinical decision. One COVID-19 patient in home quarantine was admitted due to respiratory failure detected by VC. Patient satisfaction with VC was high. Discussion: Implementation of VC helped to reduce the need for OSV and thus the risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in our patient cohort. This technology can be adopted to provide care for a wide range of chronic illnesses. Conclusions: VC can preserve access to specialist care while reducing SARS-CoV-2 exposure for patients with chronic illnesses during the pandemic.