Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Virtual Telephone Consultations Against Traditional Face-to-Face Consultations in Spine Surgery Using an Objective Metric

Telephone consultations are nearly as effective as F2F consultations in elective spine clinics, particularly for follow-up patients. The findings support the viability of telemedicine as an economical and efficient alternative method instead of traditional F2F consultations in orthopaedic practice. Further research is needed to explore patient satisfaction and outcomes in other spinal pathologies and to optimise patient stratification for telemedicine.