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Emad Tashkandi,1,2 M BaAbdullah,3 Ahmed Zeeneldin,1,4 A AlAbdulwahab,1 Omima Elemam,1,5 S Elsamany,1,5 M Alfayez,1,2 Y Dabash,6 E Khayat,7 Fayza Hassanin,8 Rasha Abdulhameed,8 Abdul Rahman Jazieh9 1Oncology Center, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 2College of Medicine, Umm AlQura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 3Information Technology, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; 5Oncology Centre, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 6Patients Affairs, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 7Patients Experience, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 8Nursing Administration, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Oncology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Emad TashkandiOncology Center, King Abdullah Medical City, College of Medicine, Umm AlQura University, Makkah, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 555 29 0061Email Tashkandi.e@kamc.med.saBackground: During curfew, patients are self-isolated at home and worried. Patient–doctor interactions may be disrupted and therefore need to be replaced by alternative effective communication methods.Purpose: To describe the preferences of cancer patients with respect to communication methods and the use of patient-accessible electronic health records (PAEHRs). To record the impact on cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and the knowledge and attitude of the patients towards it.Patients and Methods: We created a self-administered electronic survey that was piloted and evaluated for its clinical relevance. Using convenient sampling methods, we surveyed the cancer patients in our Oncology Center.Results: We received 385 responses between April 15 and April 30, 2020. The preferred method for communication was a phone call with a 92% response rate followed by the electronic patient portal, mobile application, telemedicine and text message in 75%, 76%, 73%, and 72%, respectively. The majority (97%) preferred the use of PAEHRs for appointments, 95% for drug delivery and to view laboratory tests, and 92% in requesting medical reports. In our survey, 22% of patients with cancer reported that their medical cancer care had not been affected by COVID-19. They reported that trusted sources of information during COVID-19 included the Ministry of Health with 98% and doctors with 94%. Sixty-one percent know that they are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection and 91% of respondents supported the notion of digital transformation in the caring of cancer patients.Conclusion: Our study revealed a general acceptance of patients to telecommunication as substitute to in-person interaction with their physicians. Interaction between cancer patients and health care providers should not be disrupted but should be augmented with more effective platforms to improve health care outcomes.Keywords: patient preference, e-health, patient online access, health disparities, cancer, COVID-19 |
