Importance Of Access To Care For Patients

American Urological Association issued the following announcement on Sep. 11.

The American Urological Association (AUA) is a leading advocate in urology. Their work impacts both the federal and state levels to support the practice of urology, their members, as well as their patients. A new study presented during the 2021 AUA Annual Meeting aims to showcase the impact of telemedicine on urologic oncology patient outcomes. This study also supports one of the AUA's telehealth legislative priorities. A virtual press session highlighting this study was moderated by AUA Spokesperson, Dr. Charles Welliver and is now available for viewing.

Watch Briefing

Publication # PD25-11
The Impact of Telemedicine on Patient-Reported Outcomes in Urologic Oncology

Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural communities and face barriers to access cancer care, including poverty and substantial travel burden to seeing cancer providers. The authors of this study aimed to assess the impact of a rurally focused telemedicine program on patient outcomes in a urologic oncology outpatient clinic.

Key Findings:

• Telemedicine provides a medium for cancer care delivery that eliminates the significant travel burden associated with in-person clinic appointments.
• Patients traveling from out-of-state and rural areas incur significant travel time, costs and time away from work costing around $1,000.
• No differences were noted in patient satisfaction between in-person and telemedicine visits.

"Barriers to care can have a huge negative impact on patient outcomes," Dr. Welliver said. "The AUA continues to work at the federal level to address workforce shortages; healthcare equality; and to advocate for the continued use of telehealth services as an alternative health care delivery model in order to strengthen and expand a patient's ability to seek and receive care."

The full abstract can also be viewed online:
https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1097/JU.0000000000002018.11

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 22,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

Original source can be found here.