Evaluating the Telehealth Experience of Patients With COVID-19 Symptoms: Recommendations on Best Practices

Abstract

Positive patient experiences are associated with illness recovery and adherence to medication. To evaluate the virtual care experience for patients with COVID-19 symptoms as their chief complaints. We conducted a cross-sectional study of the first cohort of patients with COVID-19 symptoms in a virtual clinic. The main end points of this study were visit volume, wait times, visit duration, patient diagnosis, prescriptions received, and satisfaction. Of the 1139 total virtual visits, 212 (24.6%) patients had COVID-19 symptoms. The average wait time (SD) for all visits was 75.5 (121.6) minutes. The average visit duration for visits was 10.5 (4.9) minutes. The highest volume of virtual visits was on Saturdays (39), and the lowest volume was on Friday (19). Patients experienced shorter wait times (SD) on the weekdays 67.1 (106.8) minutes compared to 90.3 (142.6) minutes on the weekends. The most common diagnoses for patients with COVID-19 symptoms were upper respiratory infection. Patient wait times for a telehealth visit varied depending on the time and day of appointment. Long wait times were a major drawback in the patient experience. Based on patient-reported experience, we proposed a list of general, provider, and patient telehealth best practices.

Using Automated Text Processing to Assess the Patient Experience of an On-Demand Tele-Urgent Care

“…Patient experience in the telehealth space may be influenced by various factors such as gender, the telehealth modality used, and the specialty of the visit (6). Similarly, provider telehealth competencies play an important role in how patients evaluate their telehealth experience such that telehealth visits that are short or the patient cannot clearly see the provider have lower satisfaction scores.…”

The Virtual Care Experience of Patients Diagnosed With COVID-19

“…Schwamm et al implemented intercoms to allow for virtual interaction with patients on the ward, however due to time constraints, were not able to design a formal study on the patient experience of engaging virtually (4). The study by Khairat et al were the first study to investigate the patient experience of an on-demand virtual clinic for COVID-19-positive patients based in the United States (3). The study found that clinic wait times in particular had a significant impact on patient experience.…”

“…While there is research on the patient experience of care in relation to traditional in-person models, studies on the patient experience of virtual care are limited particularly in a pandemic setting (3). Schwamm et al implemented intercoms to allow for virtual interaction with patients on the ward, however due to time constraints, were not able to design a formal study on the patient experience of engaging virtually (4).…”

Sociodemographic differences in patient experience with virtual care during COVID-19

“…Despite this, very little literature to date is available on patient experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these differ by sociodemographic characteristics. Most existing studies on patient experience during COVID-19 are from acute care, and do not stratify experience based on patient demographics [17][18][19][20][21] .…”