Read on Twitter
Was a privilege for us to host our friends and tech-forward oncologists @pbcancerdoc and @sumitshahMD for a podcast about how parts of #oncology care are changing and going virtual with #telemedicine during #COVID19
Hear the full discussion here:
https://a16z.com/2020/04/10/virtual-oncology-cancer-treatment-telemedicine/ 1/n
Hear the full discussion here:
https://a16z.com/2020/04/10/virtual-oncology-cancer-treatment-telemedicine/ 1/n
Oncology is a clinical field which, like most other parts of medicine, can likely never go *completely* virtual - our interventions rely heavily on IV meds that are administered in a monitored setting eg an infusion center. Same goes for radiation and surgery (of course). 2/n
But what parts of oncology *could* go virtual? Care in the #COVID19 era is pushing cancer clinics everywhere to push this boundary and ask how technology could change clinical oncology practice, to help keep our vulnerable patients (and providers) as safe as possible. 3/n https://twitter.com/tmprowell/status/1239405705553158149
Follow-up visits, even for pts receiving treatment that same day, are shifting to virtual, supported by new billing flexibility (curious to see how long this will last). Check-in visits btwn treatments, to see how pts are faring - online. Labs, scans reviewed via phone/video. 4/n
Choice of treatment regimen, and timing, is also being influenced by #COVID19. Many guidelines have been written, but they leave grey area. @pbcancerdoc and @sumitshahMD describe hard choices, and how #medtwitter has been a huge resource. 5/n https://twitter.com/pbcancerdoc/status/1243512471345913860
Technology and real world data #RWD from both community and academic centers will help us analyze these choices retrospectively, and see what we can learn about outcomes. @flatironhealth @COVID19nCCC and many others will no doubt contribute to this learning. 6/n
In some cases, virtual oncology is really hard for patients. The human connection to a healer is not the same over video. Access to clinical services which most of us would consider essential is harder (port placements, surgeries, clinical trials...)
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00889-6 7/n
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00889-6 7/n
In other cases, virtual care is turning out to be extraordinarily patient-centric, minimizing potentially unnecessary care and saving patients long commutes and wait times in clinical centers. Faster second opinions. Even clinical trial regulation may change for the better. 8/n https://twitter.com/drabernethyfda/status/1241387548259291136
Many oncology providers have been pleasantly surprised to see the rollout of telemedicine appts go smoothly. The feature list, though, still includes lots of low-hanging fruit: multi-provider video encounters, online scheduling, better tools for #PRO data capture 9/n
And on a final note. We have been incredibly humbled + honored to witness our cancer patients’ resilience, now perhaps more than ever. Look out for inspiring clinical anecdotes throughout the podcast and a very special reminder from @pbcancerdoc at the end 10/10 https://twitter.com/JayRughani/status/1248771471368830976
