TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lakshin, Georgy
A1  - Banek, Séverine
A1  - Keese, Daniel
A1  - Rolle, Udo
A1  - Schmedding, Andrea
T1  - Telemedicine in the pediatric surgery in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2  - Pediatric surgery international
N2  - Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented expansion of telemedicine services worldwide. This study aimed to explore the practice of telemedicine in Pediatric Surgery in Germany, the impact of the pandemic on its development and parents’ and surgeons’ experiences with telemedicine.
Methods: The study is a cross-sectional analysis using three surveys between 6/2020 and 10/2020: (1) all Pediatric Surgery departments of Germany reported whether they provide telemedicine services. (2) Members of the German Society of Pediatric Surgery and (3) families who participated in an outpatient visit by telephone or video with the Department of Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Urology of the University Hospital Frankfurt completed an anonymous survey on their experience with telemedicine.
Results: 21% of the Pediatric Surgery departments in Germany provided telemedicine, of which 57% started due to the pandemic. The lack of physical examination and face-to-face contact seem to be the major limitations to surgeons and parents. 48% of the parents answered that telemedicine is equal to or better than traditional appointments, while 33% thought that telemedicine is worse.
Conclusions: This study shows that families and doctors alike have had positive experiences with telemedicine and most will continue to use this format after the pandemic.
KW  - Telemedicine
KW  - Pediatric surgery
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - Expansion
KW  - Satisfaction
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/71587
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-715873
SN  - 1437-9813
N1  - Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
VL  - 37
IS  - 3
SP  - 389
EP  - 395
PB  - Springer
CY  - Berlin ; Heidelberg
ER  -