Abstract
Introduction
Despite the increasing importance of digital resources in modern life over the past
decades, little is known about the impact of internet-based solutions on patient's
health. We aimed to study the potential benefit of a digital platform helping patients
to deal with abnormal chest CT scan revealing possible lung cancer.
Methods
We set up a fast-track lung cancer diagnosis pathway through a secure online platform.
Patient-generated information combined with online review of their imaging enables
pre-planning of further investigations ahead of clinical assessment. We compared outcomes
of “self-referred” patients (patient group), who directly fill out the online questionnaire,
to general practitioner-driven patients (GP group), who were referred by their GP.
Results
From June 2021 to June 2022, we included 125 patients (61% males, median age 67.0
years, IQR 56.9–72.5): 41% in the patient group and 59% in the GP group. No difference
was found between groups in terms of time from contact to first appointment (median
5 days in both groups, p=0.6), percentage of pathways including pre-booked tests (94%
vs. 92%, p=0.6), number of scheduled invasive procedures (median 1, IQR 1-2 vs. 2,
IQR 1-2, p=0.4) and in final cancer diagnosis (76% vs. 78%, p=0,4).
Conclusion
A lung cancer diagnosis pathway directly accessible by patients through a secure online
platform was feasible and as efficient as the usual general practitioner pathway.
It demonstrated the benefit of leaning on new digital tools in order to answer to
the new challenges of a patient-centered health care system.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 2,
2023
Received in revised form:
February 14,
2023
Received:
December 4,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
