Virtual Visits Bring Follow-Up Care Closer to Home for Cancer Patients

For Melanie Six, every follow-up appointment at Moffitt Cancer Center is a reminder of how far she has come. The 54-year-old Vero Beach resident was diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2025 and is now in remission after completing treatment. 

For her latest follow-up appointment, Six met with her care team through Moffitt's Virtual Care Clinic instead of driving across the state to Tampa. 

"Because I had already established face-to-face rapport with my care team, it was convenient to have this as an option for a follow-up appointment and saved me hours of driving time," Six said. 

Convenience for patients is one reason Michael Bice, chair of the hospital board at Moffitt, supported virtual care when it launched as a pilot program in 2017. 

"Social determinants of health, which are nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes, impact people's ability to access health care," Bice said. "Virtual health expands that substantially because it means that you don't have to get in your car and drive 20 miles or, for some individuals, find transportation or somewhere to stay. There are also some people who just prefer virtual care, and I think I would probably put myself in that group as well." 

According to Philippe Spiess, MD, assistant chief of Surgical Services and chief of Clinical Innovation at Moffitt, only a handful of providers initially participated in the pilot program, completing about 20 to 30 virtual visits each month. 

The program expanded for broader use in late 2018 and grew rapidly following the COVID-19 pandemic, when virtual visits increased by 5,000%. 

Now, nearly 1 in 4 outpatient visits — about 23% — are conducted virtually, totaling more than 100,000 virtual patient visits so far in fiscal year 2026. 

Program Growth 

Providers dedicate specific blocks of time to virtual appointments, allowing them to see patients remotely while keeping clinic space available for those who need in-person care. The model saves time for both patients and providers and helps maximize clinic capacity. 

"There's a host of different types of visits that are being conducted virtually," Spiess said. "I conduct many of my post-op appointments this way when patients are recovering, and there are no major wound assessments or drain issues that are needed. A lot of our virtual visits involve patients having surveillance imaging and laboratory studies." 

A lot of our virtual visits involve patients having surveillance imaging and laboratory studies.

Philippe Spiess, MD

Spiess and Cristina Naso, Moffitt's director of Virtual Health, say the standard of care remains the same whether a patient is seen virtually or in person. 

"Sometimes patients choose a virtual option for clinical reasons, and sometimes they choose it for personal reasons, and either way, nobody's going to be forced into virtual, and everyone is able to make a choice," Naso said. "One of the things that we wanted to do as the virtual care team was really and truly make virtual visits feel as though they're an extension of your clinic." 

Patients whose appointments require a physical exam, laboratory testing or imaging may still need to come to the cancer center. 

Virtual Appointment Process  

To prepare for a virtual appointment, patients download the Zoom app and connect through a secure link on a computer or mobile device five to 10 minutes before their scheduled visit. Before each appointment, Moffitt staff members are available to help patients test their connection and answer questions about the technology. 

"The team gives you an opportunity to test Zoom before your actual appointment, which really gives you confidence that when the appointment time comes, you know what to do," Six said. "For guardians or seniors or people who aren't used to these platforms, the help goes a long way." 

As demand for flexible health care options continues to grow, Moffitt’s Virtual Care Clinic will continue to expand access while ensuring patients have choices in how they connect with their providers.