Authors: Leslie Andriani, Anna Jo Bodurtha Smith, Rafael Alvarez, Jonathan Heintz, Emily Meichun Ko
Published: 2022-06-06
DOI: 10.1200/jco.2022.40.16_suppl.1593
Source: Full article
1593 Background: Telemedicine rapidly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic and may be a way to reduce care disparities. Our aim was to evaluate sociodemographic (race, insurance), patient, health system, and cancer factors associated with use of telemedicine in gynecologic cancers. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with documented endometrial or ovarian cancer using the nationwide de-identified electronic health record-derived Flatiron Health data. We used multi-level regression models to analyze the association of telemedicine usage during COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) with sociodemographic, patient, health system, and cancer factors overall. Results: Of 13,450 patients with endometrial or ovarian cancer, 14.4 % (95%CI 14.0-16.1) used telemedicine during COVID-19 for their cancer care within the Flatiron Health network. Insurance was not associated with likelihood of telemedicine in any model. Region was significantly associated with telemedicine usage across models with patients living in the Northeast more likely to use telemedicine. Conclusions: In this large cohort study, we found regional disparities across cancer types and oncology settings. Expanding access to telemedicine may improve racial and geographic disparities in gynecologic cancer. [Table: see text]