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Telapheresis: A new paradigm for “saw and evaluated”

Medical record documentation guidelines from the American Society of Apheresis (ASFA) recommend that an apheresis physician of record “saw and evaluated” the apheresis patient. However, the guidelines do not specify by what means the patient should be seen or evaluated. Since that recommendation in 2005, advancing telecommunication technologies have catalyzed the development of “telapheresis” which allows physicians to see and evaluate patients with the aid of an onsite apheresis operator. This can be accomplished in a simple, inexpensive, and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant manner through devices supported by many institution's existing telecommunications infrastructure and software such as Microsoft Teams. Using a portable device, the apheresis operator projects the image to a device anywhere the apheresis medical expert may be located, such as a desktop monitor (Figure 1). The apheresis medical expert can then interact simultaneously with the patient and apheresis operator to review instrument displays and/or engage with the patient in a synchronous manner during any stage of patient treatment (Figure 2). This ability may be particularly useful in the event of an intraprocedural complication. The addition of telapheresis to the care continuum should be considered one acceptable approach to maintain compliance with the ASFA guideline to “see and evaluate” the apheresis patient in a 21st century electronic environment.