Telemedicine services in community oncology practices.

e13678 Background: Telemedicine services have grown tremendously due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We described the use of telemedicine for research purposes at community oncology practices. Methods: We utilized results from the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program 2017 and 2022 Landscape Surveys, which were designed to understand cancer delivery research capacity in community oncology practices. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine factors associated use of telemedicine for research purpose in 2022, adjusting for region, practice ownership type, and number of oncology providers. Results: Information was available from 504 and 685 discrete practices in 2017 and 2022, respectively. These represent 210 and 259 practice groups; practice groups serving only pediatric patients were excluded. Mean numbers of oncology providers at the practice group level were 18 (IQR 5-21) and 20 (IQR 7-22) in 2017 and 2022, respectively. Over 90% of practice groups reported having outpatient electronic health records and patient portal in both years. In 2022, IT service was available onsite in 71%. In 2017, 31% of practice groups utilized telemedicine for delivery of cancer care and 15% can utilize telemedicine for research purposes. In 2022, telemedicine was used for research purposes in 73% of practice groups. Specifically, telemedicine was used for collection of patient-reported outcomes (54%), delivery of health care interventions (47%), consent (39%), conduct of qualitative interviews (32%), delivery of behavioral interventions (30%), collection of biometric data (e.g., weight, blood pressure) (14%), and collection of neurocognitive testing data (12%). One-third of all practice groups (35%) did not have internet-abled devices available for patients, 53% had them onsite, and 2% had them on site and for patients to take home. On multivariable analysis, a greater number of oncology providers was associated with greater use of telemedicine for research purposes (every 10-unit increase, AOR 1.31, 95% CI 1.04-1.64). Conclusions: From 2017 to 2022, there has been an increased use of telemedicine for research purposes, though its use varies across practices. Bigger practice groups were more likely to use telemedicine for research purpose. Cancer care delivery research that incorporates telemedicine should consider implementing site-specific and standardized resources. [Table: see text]