Virtual follow-up for living kidney donors offers convenience, may increase donation rates
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Providing virtual postoperative follow-up for living kidney donors may be an effective alternative to traditional clinic care, according to a poster presented at the virtual American Transplant Congress.
“[Living kidney donation] LKD has been declining in the U.S. in recent years, and there is evidence to suggest that this is partly due to the inconvenience of the surgery and follow-up care needed,” Shelby Allen, MD, of the Medical University of South Carolina, and colleagues wrote. “New web-based technology has allowed the development of virtual clinic visits between patients and health care providers without the patient having to physically travel to their appointments.”
The researchers contended that while this technology has been applied to various areas of medicine, no studies have explored its impact on living kidney donation.
“The aim of this analysis was to determine patient-reported experiences with this quality improvement endeavor, assessing whether [virtual] follow-up appointments would provide convenient follow-up for donors by eliminating the time and expense of travel while still delivering effective care,” they wrote.
To compare patient experiences with either virtual or traditional in-clinic care, researchers administered a survey to 53 donors (36% with virtual follow-up).
They found 84% of who chose virtual follow-up did so because they wanted to avoid travel.
Regarding satisfaction between the two groups, 68% with virtual follow-up reported being “very satisfied” compared with 73% of those with traditional in-clinic follow-up. In addition, 89% reported they would choose virtual follow-up again if given the option compared with 56% of clinic participants.
Further, the researchers noted convenience with appointment follow-up trended toward being rated higher in the virtual group vs. the clinic group. It was also determined that patients with virtual follow-up traveled further from home to the transplant center, with 63% being more than 200 miles away compared with 32% of those with clinic follow-up.
According to the researchers, the results suggest similar levels of donor satisfaction between the two groups, with “slightly improved” convenience ratings for donors who lived further from the transplant center.
Based on these findings, they concluded, “Virtual postoperative follow-up care may be a viable and effective alternative for many patients and has the potential to make the donation process more convenient for [living kidney] LK donors.” – by Melissa J. Webb
Reference:
Allen S, et al. Poster #27-01D. Presented at: American Transplant Congress; May 30-June 1, 2020. (virtual meeting).
Disclosure: Healio Nephrology was unable to determine relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.
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Allen S, et al. Poster #27-01D. Presented at: American Transplant Congress; May 30-June 1, 2020. (virtual meeting).
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