Telemedicine practices in the pediatric urology department

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to assess the perspective of the patients and the parents regarding their satisfaction with the televisits in our center. Patients and methods: Between November 2019 and December 2021, a total of 247 participants (155 males, 92 girls, median age 76.9 months; range, 4.9 to 518.6 months) who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. A questionnaire which was prepared to evaluate parents' satisfaction with telemedicine, was sent to parents of the children who were evaluated with televisits. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the satisfaction and simplicity scores according to the diagnosis (p=0.099 and p=0.243, respectively). Also, 77% of parents in our study found televisits similar to face-to-face (in-person) visits. Conclusion: Our study results show that patient satisfaction with televisit is high in terms of ease of use, shortened travel time and reduced cost. In addition, televisit provides parents with a positive opportunity to take time off from work. The majority of our participants reported that they desired to continue televisit after the end of the pandemic.