Introduction
Since 1879, telemedicine has allowed consultations to occur remotely
without face-to-face interactions between patients and
clinicians.(1) It had
been shown to be effective, efficient and cost-effective in various
specialities.(2-7)
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telemedicine
consultations had become an integral part of practice for various
medical and surgical specialties, including otolaryngology, head and
neck surgery (OHNS).(8)Otolaryngologists had been particularly at risk of contracting COVID-19
due to the higher viral load in the upper aerodigestive
tract,(9) therefore the
use of telemedicine had been especially important to enable ongoing safe
patient care while minimising risk to clinicians.
Telemedicine consultations for OHNS patients provide additional
challenges compared to other specialties due to the need for specialist
examinations such as endoscopy which may not be performed by non-OHNS
clinicians. Recent studies had shown good diagnostic concordance of
telemedicine consultations in assessing OHNS patients when compared to
face-to-face
consultations,(8,
10-12) especially for OHNS conditions
which are mainly diagnosed based on clinical history alone such as
recurrent tonsillitis.
In most developed countries, the majority of otolaryngologists consult
in metropolitan locations. Patients from regional or remote locations
are therefore required to travel significant distances for specialist
OHNS review.(13)Although various Australian state governments provide subsidy for travel
costs incurred, the impact to patient care can often be significant,
even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is currently a lack of studies in the literature evaluating the
use of telemedicine for OHNS in regional Australia. This study aims to
assess the diagnostic accuracy of telemedicine consultations in
assessing OHNS patients compared to face-to-face consultations during
the COVID-19 pandemic.