Prospective Study of Patient, Nursing, and Oncology Provider Perspectives on Telemedicine Visits for Renal Cell Carcinoma Clinical Trials

Purpose: Clinical trials enable renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients to receive promising investigational agents, yet access may be limited. Telemedicine (TM) is an increasingly utilized platform that can expand access, but perspectives on its use in clinical trial care are unknown.

Patients and methods: A prospective study was conducted between Jan 2023 - Oct 2023 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. RCC patients enrolled on therapeutic clinical trials who had prior TM visits were eligible. Surveys in English were distributed to patients, treating clinical trial nurses (CTNs), and oncology providers engaged in clinical trials.

Results: 39 patients, 7 CTNs, and 15 oncology providers were included in our analysis. Regarding clinical trial care, 26 patients (67%) preferred in-person, 4 (11%) preferred TM, and 9 (22%) had no preference. However, 25 patients (64%) reported TM provided an equal quality of care, and 38 (97%) reported a positive or neutral experience. Conversely, 7 CTNs (100%) and 11 providers (73%) preferred in-person care while 4 (27%) indicated no preference. Most, including 6 CTNs (86%) and 13 providers (87%), reported that TM quality of care was inferior. However, most, including 7 CTNs (100%) and 14 providers (93%), reported a positive experience with TM.

Conclusions: In this study, one third of RCC participants preferred TM or had no preference, and a majority felt TM delivered equal quality of care. Providers, however, preferred in-person visits and reported inferior quality of care with TM. These findings warrant further evaluation of safety and feasibility to optimize TM integration for clinical trial care delivery.