Abstract
Purpose
Telehealth has become commonplace in many healthcare systems across the United States.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large academic medical center in the southeast USA
has increased the use of telehealth in the anesthesia department to complete preanesthetic
assessments before the patient's surgery. This has allowed high-risk patient populations
to limit potential exposure to COVID-19 and limit the financial burden of traveling
from neighboring counties to complete their preanesthetic assessment in person. The
purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a
preanesthetic assessment via telehealth among patients undergoing anesthesia.
Design
A quality improvement project.
Methods
Two separate surveys assessing patient and provider satisfaction with telehealth preanesthesia
assessments were developed. Patients undergoing anesthesia at the medical center completed
a telehealth preanesthesia assessment and received a satisfaction survey via email
post-procedure. Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) who cared for patients
that completed a telehealth preanesthesia assessment also received an emailed satisfaction
survey.
Findings
Results demonstrate high satisfaction scores for both patients and providers.
Conclusion
Current telehealth preanesthetic assessments prompt high satisfaction scores, supporting
continued, and expanded use.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 08, 2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofFootnotes
Conflict of Interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
