Telemedicine and Virtual Interventions in Cancer Rehabilitation: Practical Application, Complications and Future Potentials

The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the practical applications of comprehensive cancer rehabilitation services through telemedicine.

Telemedicine has been shown to be an effective platform leading to positive outcomes and high patient/provider satisfaction for several forms of skilled therapy and cancer physiatry visits. Several survivorship resources are also available through telemedicine in recent years.

Telemedicine can increase accessibility to geographically sequestered services including cancer physiatry, skilled therapy and survivorship resources. In certain situations and for specific services, telemedicine can be effective, however, in other situations such as the evaluation of new neurologic deficits or when providing manual therapies, in-person visits should take precedence.