Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): Improving Access to Surgical Care: Safety, Efficacy, and Satisfaction With Postoperative Telehealth
A quarter of US Veterans reside in rural communities and are significantly older than their urban counterparts. Providing timely access to care is especially important in this older, independent and medically complex cohort. Routine telehealth for low and high-complexity surgery could be of particular benefit to rural patients by reducing travel challenges, costs, improving scheduling flexibility and reinforcing independence. Findings from this study, once completed, could lead to standardization for telehealth follow-up after surgery.