Telehealth utilization and patient satisfaction in an ambulatory movement disorders center during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction Studies suggest that patients are satisfied with telehealth in ambulatory settings. However, tele-neurology satisfaction data are limited by a small sample size and COVID-19-era data is not specific to movement disorders clinics. In this prospective observational study, telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic was assessed, and patient satisfaction was compared between telehealth and in-person visits in an outpatient movement disorders center. Methods Patients ≥18 years who completed an appointment at Northwestern's Movement Disorders Clinic were invited to complete a post-visit Medallia survey. The primary outcomes of the survey were likelihood to recommend (LTR) provider, LTR location, and ‘spent enough time,’ on a 0–10 scale. Responses were categorized into in-person vs. telehealth groups. Results Telehealth utilization significantly increased from a pre-COVID timeframe rate of 0.3% (Nov 2019 to Feb 2020) to 39.5% during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 through April 2021) ( p-value < 0.001). During the COVID-19 pandemic, 621 patients responded to the post-visit Medallia survey (response rate = 30%), including 365 in-person and 256 telehealth visits. No significant differences were observed between in-person and telehealth encounters in LTR provider ( p = 0.892), LTR location ( p = 0.659), and time spent ( p = 0.395). Additional subgroup multivariable analysis did not support differences in satisfaction between different age groups. Discussion With its large sample size, our study demonstrates that in the setting of increased TH utilization in movement disorders clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients reported similar satisfaction with telehealth compared to in-person visits. This study supports the utility of telehealth to provide specialized neurologic clinic care.

The selfie sign in the diagnosis of functional tremor

“…A growing body of literature highlights the role of telemedicine in the care of patients with Parkinson’s disease and hyperkinetic disorders [6] . Synchronous videoconferencing, conducted over various platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, can be utilized for clinical follow up, to administer an abbreviated neurological examination or movement disorders scales, or to counsel [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] . Examination can also be supplemented by asynchronous videos recorded by a personal recording device.…”