Patient Satisfaction With Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Cohort Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND New York City was the international epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers responded by rapidly transitioning from in-person to video visits. Telemedicine (i.e. video visits) is a potentially disruptive innovation; however, little is known about patient satisfaction with this emerging alternative to the traditional clinical encounter. OBJECTIVE To determine if patient satisfaction differs between video vs. in-person visits. METHODS Retrospective observational cohort study in which we analyzed 38,609 Press Ganey patient satisfaction survey outcomes from clinic encounters (620 video visits vs. 37,989 in-person visits) at a single-institution urban, quaternary academic medical center in New York City for patients aged 18 years during April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. Time was categorized as pre-COVID-19 vs. COVID-19 (before vs. after March 4, 2020). Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests and multivariable linear regression were used for hypothesis testing and statistical modeling, respectively. RESULTS We experienced an 8,729% increase in video visit utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same period last year. Video visit Press Ganey scores were significantly higher than in-person visits (94.9% vs. 92.5%; p<0.001). In adjusted analysis, video visits (Parameter Estimate [PE] 2.18; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20, 3.16) and the COVID-19 period (PE 0.55; 95%CI 0.04, 1.06) were associated with higher patient satisfaction. Younger age (PE -2.05; 95%CI -2.66, -1.22), female gender (PE -0.73; 95%CI -0.96, -0.50), and new visit type (PE -0.75; 95%CI -1.00, -0.49) were associated with lower patient satisfaction, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Patient satisfaction with video visits is high and is not a barrier towards a paradigm shift away from traditional in-person clinic visits. Future research to compare other clinic visit quality indicators is needed to guide and implement widespread adoption of telemedicine.

Effects of COVID-19 on telemedicine practice patterns in outpatient otolaryngology

“…Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made telemedicine accessible during the pandemic by paying physicians the same rate for telemedicine services as in-person visits for all diagnoses [ 25 ]. Thus, telemedicine has been widely implemented and is now being studied across various subspecialties through evaluation of patient satisfaction and utilization rates [ 26 ].…”

“…This can be explained by empiric medication prescribing based on symptomology. In smaller studies, telemedicine video visits have been shown to have no difference in clinical outcomes while allowing for lower costs and higher patient satisfaction, in comparison to in-person consultations [ 26 ]. It is unclear whether greater patient satisfaction in prior studies could be tied to increased medication prescribing or satisfaction with telemedicine itself, and further studies on patient satisfaction with telemedicine are warranted in the future.…”

Satisfacción de los pacientes y percepción de la calidad de atención de telemedicina durante la pandemia en el Centro Materno Infantil Juan Pablo II de enero 2022 – agosto 2022

“…El investigador concluyó que, a mayor calidad de atención mejora satisfacción de los pacientes. (17) Nuestros hallazgos demostraron que al cruzar la variable fiabilidad evidencia una correlación moderada entre las variables satisfacción y fiabilidad con un valor de Rho Spearman=,546, donde el nivel de significatividad es 0,000 menor a 0,05, lo que quiere decir que, a mayor fiabilidad, mejora la satisfacción de los pacientes mediante la telemedicina (TICs). Sin embargo, no se encontró resultados similares en otros estudios.…”

“…Obtuvieron como resultados que las puntuaciones de las visitas por video fueron de 94,4% y la satisfacción fue de 94,9%. Concluyeron que la satisfacción del paciente con las visitas por video fue favorable en comparación con las visitas en persona, respaldando el uso de la visita por video como una alternativa viable a las visitas tradicionales en persona (17). En el 2020, García y Col, realizaron una investigación prospectivo observacional con el objetivo de evaluar la satisfacción del paciente y del proveedor sobre el uso de telemedicina en Otorrinolaringología.…”