The impact of a virtual cardiology outpatient clinic in the COVID-19 era

• Published in: Irish journal of medical science 2022-04, Vol.191 (2), p.553-558
• Main Authors: Offiah, Gregory, O’Connor, Cormac, Waters, Max, Hickey, Niall, Loo, Bryan, Moore, David, Mulcahy, David, Maher, Vincent
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ambulatory Care Facilities; Cardiology; COVID-19; Family Medicine; General Practice; Humans; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original; Original Article; Pandemics; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Telemedicine - methods
• ISSN: 0021-1265; 1863-4362
• DOI: 10.1007/s11845-021-02617-z

Background Restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have demanded an innovative approach to provide appropriate patient review. We have been running virtual cardiology clinics as per Health Service Executive guidance. Aims Our study aims to determine how virtual clinics change practice vs traditional clinics. Methods A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted on patients attending cardiology clinics in our hospital from 6 January to 13 March 2020 (‘traditional clinic’, n  = 1644), compared with clinics during the COVID-19 outbreak, from 16 March to 22 April 2020 (‘virtual clinic’, n  = 691), with the same medical staff. Results There was no difference in age (61 vs 60), case mix or new vs return appointments in virtual vs traditional clinics. There were similar rates of clinic participation, 71.8% vs 74.2%. A lower proportion of investigations (e.g. imaging) were booked in virtual (38.5%) vs traditional (55.7%) clinics, p