Telemedicine for sarcoma patient care

Abstract

Telemedicine is being incorporated into routine healthcare, including oncology. The integration of telemedicine with patient electronic medical records and the adoption of virtual provider-patient encounters was accelerated by the SARS-CoV2 worldwide pandemic. Although telemedicine has existed for more than 50 years, the impact of telemedicine on patient care and health outcomes is relatively understudied, and little research has been conducted on telehealth in the care of patients with sarcoma. This review discusses the potential applications of telemedicine to the care of patients with sarcoma and some of the data available on patient and provider preferences for telemedicine vs. in-person healthcare encounters. Some of the areas of care in which greater adoption of telemedicine may be beneficial to patients with sarcoma are also discussed.