Telemedicine and Telehealth in Urology: Uptake, Impact and Barriers to Clinical Adoption

Nithesh Naik; Shreyas Raghavan Nandyal; Sanjana Ganesh Nayak; Milap Shah; Sufyan Ibrahim; B M Zeeshan Hameed; Ananth Patil; Gopika Suresh; Pritam A Shetty; Bhavan Prasad Rai; Rajeev Tp; Patrick Rice; Suraj Jayadeva Reddy; Nandakishore Bhat; Deepesh Garg; Piotr Chlosta; Bhaskar K Somani

doi:10.3389/fsurg.2022.911206

Telemedicine and Telehealth in Urology: Uptake, Impact and Barriers to Clinical Adoption

Front Surg. 2022 Jun 30:9:911206. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.911206. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Nithesh Naik^{1

2}, Shreyas Raghavan Nandyal³, Sanjana Ganesh Nayak⁴, Milap Shah^{2

5}, Sufyan Ibrahim^{2

6}, B M Zeeshan Hameed^{2

7}, Ananth Patil⁸, Gopika Suresh⁶, Pritam A Shetty⁶, Bhavan Prasad Rai^{2

9}, Rajeev Tp¹⁰, Patrick Rice¹¹, Suraj Jayadeva Reddy¹², Nandakishore Bhat⁷, Deepesh Garg¹³, Piotr Chlosta¹⁴, Bhaskar K Somani^{2

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
² iTRUE (International Training and Research in Uro-oncology and Endourology) Group, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
³ Gandhi Medical College, Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences, Secunderabad, Telangana, India.
⁴ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
⁵ Robotics and Urooncology, Max Hospital and Max Institute of Cancer Care, New Delhi, India.
⁶ Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
⁷ Department of Urology, Father Muller Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
⁸ A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
⁹ Department of Urology, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Department of Urology, Government Medical College Hospital, Guwahati, India.
¹¹ Department of Urology, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, Southampton, United Kingdom.
¹² Department of Urology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
¹³ Department of Information and Communication Technology, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
¹⁴ Department of Urology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Kraków, Poland.

Abstract

Telemedicine has great potential in urology as a strong medium for providing patients with continuous high-quality urological care despite the hurdles involved in its implementation. Both clinicians and patients are crucial factors in determining the success of tele-consults in terms of simplicity of use and overall satisfaction. For it to be successfully incorporated into routine urological practice, rigorous training and evidence-based recommendations are lacking. If these issues are addressed, they can provide a significant impetus for future tele-consults in urology and their successful deployment, even beyond the pandemic, to assure safer and more environment-friendly patient management.

Keywords: COVID-19; patient satisfaction; telehealth; telemedicine; urology.

Publication types

Review