How We Continued to Care for Our Patients The Rapid Implementation of Telemedicine to Provide Pediatric Musculoskeletal Care in Response to COVID-19 at a Large Academic Children’s Hospital

Main Article Content

Tomasina Leska
Lia McNeely
Lawrence Wells

Abstract

Background: In response to the disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic caused to our health care system, our institution promptly implemented telemedicine to address the need for non-urgent, yet necessary, musculoskeletal (MSK) care. The aim of this paper is to outline the telemedicine strategies and infrastructure implemented by the Division of Orthopaedics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Our system can serve as an example of how to provide continued access to care in the setting of mandated office visit cancellations.


Methods: The Division of Orthopaedics developed and rapidly implemented new tools to make the transition to telemedicine possible. This involved leveraging existing infrastructure to develop clinical decision support, a centralized training platform, and access to real time data for quality improvement. 


Results: Our division now conducts over 50% of visits via telemedicine. In the first three weeks of telemedicine, established patients accounted for the largest proportion of these visits, and knee injuries were the most common diagnoses encountered. To improve patient and provider experience, CHOP distributed hospital-wide surveys. Preliminary results indicated high satisfaction with the telemedicine experience.


Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has required health care providers to rapidly implement telemedicine on a larger scale than ever before. Our approach allowed us to quickly adapt and continue providing care to our patients. We expect that the expansion of telemedicine will increase access to health care beyond the pandemic. 

Article Details

How to Cite
Leska, T., McNeely, L., & Wells, L. (2020). How We Continued to Care for Our Patients: The Rapid Implementation of Telemedicine to Provide Pediatric Musculoskeletal Care in Response to COVID-19 at a Large Academic Children’s Hospital. Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.55275/JPOSNA-2020-101
Section
General Orthopaedics
Author Biographies

Tomasina Leska, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Clinical Research Coordinator 

Division of Orthopaedic Surgey 

Lia McNeely, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Quality, Safety and Value Advisor (QSVA)

Division of Orthopedic Surgery