The demand and interest of patients with cardiosurgical pathology in remote dynamic follow up using Internet services

Modern medicine develops rapidly in the digital direction, and new information and telemedicine technologies are actively introduced in clinical practice. Purpose. To identify the category of cardiac surgical patients interested in the remote dynamic follow-up after the discharge from the hospital, using the Internet services and the factors that affect this. Material and methods. The study was conducted at the base of the department of surgical treatment of interactive pathology of the Bakoulev National Medical Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery of the Russian Federation. The study was prospective. Before the discharge, patients answered a series of questions combined into an anonymous questionnaire. The questions concerned education, social status of the patient, age, gender, patient interest in remote follow up after discharge, use of the Internet and social networks, satisfaction with the treatment. Results. The study included 652 patients with a mean age of 58±12.5 years. 44% of them were women, 56% were men. More than 85% of patients expressed a positive opinion about such an initiative as using web services for remote consulting. Further analysis was aimed to identify possible differences between those patients who answered positively about remote follow up and those who were not interested. Statistically significant differences were revealed in the following indicators: education, sex, age, frequency of Internet use, use of social networks, place of residence and work status. Conclusions. The study confirms the demand among patients for the availability of services for their remote follow-up, which would perform the function of providing expert advice and the storage of archives of patients’ medical documents. Younger patients who are active Internet users and who have university education are potentially interested in this service. Such services would allow the patient to keep in touch with the doctor of the Department where surgical treatment was carried out, which would undoubtedly increase patients’ adherence to the treatment and recommendations.