Telemedicine Evaluation for Stem Cell Transplant Patients

Pilot Trial of Telemedicine Evaluation for Stem Cell Transplant Patients

Telemedicine is a new area of health care where medical information is transferred through audiovisual media, such as a computer or a video camera, for the purpose of remote doctor's visits or examinations. This new area of health care is important to test because it can potentially provide real-time interactions between the patient and their health care team, including phone conversations, online communication, and/or home visits. Many activities such as a history review or physical examination can be conducted virtually as compared to the traditional face-to face visits.

The purpose of this study is to determine patient and health care team acceptance of a "virtual medical visit" as a substitute for a "face to face" visit for patients either preparing to receive a stem cell transplant or previously received a stem cell transplant.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who underwent or are planning to undergo a hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation for any disease.
• Participants must be able to read and understand English*
• Age over 18 years of age since this pilot trial is only being performed in the Adult BMT Service Non-English speaking patients have been excluded in this pilot study because we do not have the support for translation services at this time. Additionally, the telemedicine instruments being used are not yet validated across all languages.

Potential patients will be identified according to their medical condition, type and complexity of stem cell transplant procedure performed, and distance from MSKCC.

The patients should:

1. minimal comorbidities,
2. be less than 75 years of age. These characteristics have been associated with good understanding and acceptance of telemedicine in other pilot trials. These characteristics will be assessed by the clinician.

Please note: Patients on other therapeutic protocols will be eligible for this protocol as well.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medically unstable patient as deemed by the treating team.