With funding from Pfizer, this project is to evaluate telehealth improvements for cancer patients in the Upper River Valley, New Brunswick. Getting cancer care has always been tough in this area since most residents live in rural communities.
The health system introduced several changes: cancer specialists began visiting smaller towns, medical teams started holding more video meetings, and there was closer collaboration with palliative care teams. We looked at patient charts and interviewed both patients and healthcare providers to assess how these changes were working.
What we learned
The results were promising. More patients got referred to palliative and supportive care services and patients were satisfied with telehealth reporting that it reduced treatment time and stress. The improvements didn’t burden staff with extra work, which was a relief. Both patients and providers agreed that video appointments handle many visit types well, though everyone stressed that sensitive conversations still need to happen in person. People suggested concrete improvements like better cameras for checking physical symptoms, on-site IT help, and making sure nurses are consistently available to support patients during video calls.
Our recommendations focus on practical next steps: partnering with patients to develop clear guidelines for when to use video versus face-to-face visits, ensuring support staff are present during telehealth sessions, and investing in better equipment including improved cameras and closed captioning. We’ve shared these findings with clinical teams at Horizon Health Network and will be presenting at an international human-computer interaction conference. The remaining project funds will go directly toward buying some of the equipment that participants recommended.