• Marc Coppens, Els Van Caelenberg, and Melissa De Regge.
• Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Basic and Applied Medical Sciences, Ghent University.
• Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2021 Dec 1; 34 (6): 709713709-713.

Purpose Of ReviewTo give an overview of the impact of different forms of telehealth that are currently used in ambulatory anesthesia and surgery. Telehealth is applicable during the early recovery and intermediate recovery period (e.g. monitoring of quality of recovery), and as a tool for postoperative check-up during the late recovery phase.Recent FindingsPostoperative follow-up after ambulatory surgery is still crucial to maintain quality of care as pain and postoperative nausea and vomiting remain common adverse events. There is a surge of telehealth applications from procedure-specific commercial smartphone apps (mHealth) to complete digital patient platforms instituted by the government. However, patient and healthcare provider engagement is not universal. Usability of these applications is mandatory as well as identifying and overcoming the barriers to its use.SummaryTelehealth gives many opportunities for postoperative follow-up of ambulatory surgery patients. Clear evidence on the benefits of telehealth in ambulatory surgery is however still sparse. Future research should focus on telehealth for improving quality and safety of postoperative recovery, convincing policymakers for reimbursement encouraging healthcare providers and patients to engage in telehealth.Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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