# Telehealth and hospital-at-home in oncology

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/telehealth-oncology/  
OnCo record `telehealth-oncology` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Video visits, remote monitoring and home delivery of some cancer treatments expanded massively during COVID-19 and have stayed; they reduce travel burden, especially for rural patients, without evidence of worse outcomes.

## Summary

Telehealth use in oncology rose from ~1% to ~50% of visits at the 2020 peak and settled around 10-20%. Evidence: REACH PC (JAMA 2024) showed video palliative care equal to in-person; teleoncology models (Australia's Townsville, US rural networks) deliver chemotherapy supervision remotely; home infusion of some agents (subcutaneous daratumumab, pembrolizumab, trastuzumab-pertuzumab) and oral therapies with remote monitoring are growing; 'hospital-at-home' for febrile neutropenia and CAR-T monitoring is being piloted. Decentralised clinical trials use telehealth to broaden enrolment. Limits: broadband and digital literacy (the digital divide widens disparities), licensure across state lines, reimbursement parity, and the need for physical examination and imaging.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: gap-fill
- Principle: Substitute synchronous video or asynchronous digital contact and remote monitoring for in-person visits where physical assessment is not required, and move low-risk treatment and monitoring into the home.
- Since: 2020
- Strengths: Reduces travel time and cost for patients; Equivalent outcomes for palliative care and follow-up visits; Expands trial and specialist access to rural areas
- Limitations: Digital divide; Regulatory and reimbursement uncertainty; Not suitable for examination-dependent visits or complex toxicity

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telehealth
- REACH PC (JAMA 2024): https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2024.13964
- ASCO telehealth standards 2021: https://doi.org/10.1200/OP.21.00438

## Connected records

- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/), [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- technologies: [After treatment in Australia: a stated model of survivorship care](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-access-survivorship-care-australia/), [AI trial matching & clinical decision support](https://onco.cc/technologies/ai-trial-matching/), [Asking people how they are, every week, as a treatment in its own right](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-measure-epro-as-treatment/), [Early integrated palliative care](https://onco.cc/technologies/palliative-care/), [Electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) symptom monitoring](https://onco.cc/technologies/epro-symptom-monitoring/), [Financial toxicity and financial navigation](https://onco.cc/technologies/financial-navigation/), [Global oncology and access in low- and middle-income countries](https://onco.cc/technologies/global-oncology-access/), [Multidisciplinary tumour boards](https://onco.cc/technologies/multidisciplinary-tumour-board/), [Oncology nursing and nurse-led care](https://onco.cc/technologies/oncology-nursing/), [PROMIS: the item banks that let a short questionnaire be precise](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-measure-promis/), [The questionnaires that were never returned, and the people never asked](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-measure-missing-data-and-who-is-not-asked/), [Wearables and step counts: measuring what someone actually does](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-measure-wearables-and-step-counts/), [What has actually been implemented since those trials, and what has not](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-measure-epro-implementation/), [Where rehabilitation is commissioned, and who misses out](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-rehab-commissioning-inequity/)
- companies: [Jasper Health](https://onco.cc/companies/jasper-health/), [OncoHealth](https://onco.cc/companies/oncohealth/), [Reimagine Care](https://onco.cc/companies/reimagine-care/), [Thyme Care](https://onco.cc/companies/thyme-care/)
- key papers: [Telehealth in Oncology: ASCO Standards and Practice Recommendations](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-zon-jco-oncol-pract/), [Telehealth vs In-Person Early Palliative Care for Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer: A Multisite Randomized Clinical Trial](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-greer-jama/)
- journals: [JMIR cancer](https://onco.cc/journals/jmir-cancer/)
- terms: [Oncology workforce](https://onco.cc/terms/oncology-workforce/)

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