Abstract
Category:
Other; Ankle; Arthroscopy; Bunion; Hindfoot; Lesser Toes; Midfoot/Forefoot; Trauma
Introduction/Purpose:
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a major increase in telemedicine utilization to conserve resources and maintain social distancing. The rapid transition over a short period of time has exposed challenges and limitations of virtual visits, especially with regards to performing an effective and efficient physical examination. Within months, orthopedic telemedicine guides were published for patient education and facilitating the musculoskeletal examination. These publications, however, included only a short video clip to explain to the patient how to participate in the examination during a telemedicine visit. In the foot and ankle subspecialty, the closely adjacent complex anatomy compared to other areas of the body presents unique challenges for physical exam.
Methods:
To optimize the efficiency and efficacy of the examination portion of the visit for both patients and providers, we designed and recorded an instructional video that is sent to all patients by email a minimum of 1 week prior to their appointment. This video consists of a step-by-step guide on how to take suitable photos and videos of their feet and ankles for the physical examination portion of their visit. These media files are then directly uploaded by the patients into their EMR or emailed to the physician's office to be uploaded for access by the provider before and during the virtual visit. Along with the video, patients are given a link to test their microphone and camera in advance of the visit to ensure adequate functionality and positioning.
Results:
Our pre-appointment instructional video has been effective to methodically replicate the most important aspects of an in-person foot and ankle evaluation. Both physicians and patients appear to benefit from the tutorial video by having more time during the telemedicine visit to focus on history, assessment, and plan. Patients are more actively involved in the clinical data collection process because they are educated on what to expect and how to best prepare and participate in telemedicine visits. Moreover, having a set of systematic and detailed photos and recordings of the patient's foot and ankle beforehand better focuses interaction and discussion with the patient during the telemedicine encounter. Additionally, these are saved into the patient's electronic medical record, available for reference and later review.
Conclusion:
Physical examination plays a critical role in diagnosis and treatment in the orthopedic foot and ankle subspecialty. More research is needed to discern how best to utilize virtual modalities as they become more commonplace, not just from the imposition from the COVID pandemic but also from the standpoint of patient convenience and time efficiency. Here we have described our creation of a pre-visit educational video to guide and engage patients on acquiring invaluable physical examination information for the orthopedic foot and ankle telemedicine encounter.