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Outpatient Virtual Visits and the "Right" Amount of Telehealth Going Forward.
- Source :
-
Telemedicine & e-Health . Dec2021, Vol. 27 Issue 12, p1372-1378. 7p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Background: An exponential increase in outpatient telehealth visits occurred early in the pandemic period that has been followed by volumes that, although lower than peak numbers, are substantially greater than the pre-pandemic period. This provided an opportunity to assess provider perceptions regarding the right prevalence going forward and key obstacles to achieving it. Methods: A 10-question survey was distributed to all outpatient providers within the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System. Domains included practice location, specialty, professional degree, experience with telehealth, satisfaction, perception of the amount of telehealth that could be adequately delivered going forward, role of audio-only, and obstacles. Results: Three hundred thirty-six providers completed the survey representing 51 specialties. The most common response regarding the proportion of outpatient visits that could be delivered by video going forward was 21–50% (n = 104) followed by 6–20% (n = 99) and >50% (n = 71). A minority of respondents chose ≤5% (n = 17). In terms of the fraction of video visits for which phone was equally effective, a similar percentage of respondents felt that it was 1/10 (22%), 1/4 (20%), or 1/2 (26%) of visits. Fewer felt that all (7%) or 3/4 (15%) of visits were equally effective, and 10% felt that it was none. Common obstacles identified were the need for a physical exam, unique aspects of providers' patients, patient preference, and issues regarding technology and internet speed/connectivity. Conclusions: After a period of exponential growth in virtual visits due to the pandemic, outpatient providers within an academic health system felt that a substantial portion of future visits could be delivered by this modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *TELEMEDICINE
*INTERNET speed
*PATIENT preferences
*PANDEMICS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15305627
- Volume :
- 27
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Telemedicine & e-Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 154139823
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2020.0468