How telehealth services can be used as a patient satisfaction tool? can be understood by following the current telehealth patient satisfaction information that shows that patients accept telemedicine to a surprising degree - especially for follow-up care. The data is not just associated with primary care visits. Patients across domains from psychiatry and obstetrics to rare disease management are grading telemedicine equal to - or in some cases, healthier than ancient in-person consultations.
Research helps one with details about patients based on characteristics such as demographics, gender, age, income, ethnicity, education, marital status employment, status, location, overall health, health conditions, mobile device, and health insurance provider, including Medicare and Medicaid.
Patient experiences
The research provides actionable data and intelligence about patient experiences with:
- Engagement and building an account
- Consultation
- Billing and Payment
- Patient service (comprising phone, online, and mobile application interconnections)
Topics addressed in survey questions
Patient survey is all about certain concepts such as awareness of telehealth service providers, telehealth usage and most significant factors for usage, selection, and ease of confirming a service, ease of admission, timing, variety of doctors available, convenience, problem resolution, the reason for the visit, quality of the diagnosis, follow-up and whether the data provided could be added to patient Electronic Medical Records (EMR), demographic data, and readiness to use the service again and endorse service.
Telehealth survey
During the scrutiny, patients were offered the following three options – video, telephone, and email. 69% of patients said that video calling results in the most precise diagnosis. Patients also conveyed that video visits accurately decipher their health concerns. Patients relayed that their healthcare concerns were resolved with video visits. Whether for reasonably simple affairs like prescription refills or major ones involving chronic disease supervision, patients want telehealth. 20% of patients said that they would switch to a new doctor if they offer telemedicine. This kind of demand is usual in rural areas. Growth in this area is so enormous that recent FCC proposals include funding for telehealth gadgets in rural clinics to the tune of over $400 million just in the current financial year.
A new study of telehealth usage by Massachusetts General Hospital portrayed that nearly all patients adjudged the quality of care or communication to be the same or better than at the ancient and close office visits. Almost 25% said the quality of telehealthcare was better than a physical visit. The research scrutinized existing patients and practitioners to gather information on satisfaction in virtual video visits. Primary study consequences marked noteworthy information in three categories:
- Convenience: 79% of patients said that it was simpler to schedule an appropriate appointment time for a telehealth denouement visit than for a clinic visit.
- Quality: 62% of patients said the quality of care via telehealth was the same as a physical visit.
- Satisfaction: 68% of patients rated their visit a nine or a ten on a ten-point appreciation scale. 66% of them said they had useful personal associations with their doctor using telehealth.
The telehealth patient satisfaction scrutiny also established that they are delaying healthcare. Two-thirds of Americans have put off asking a healthcare practitioner for a variety of reasons ranging from an expense to access. Patients aren’t just holding up healthcare for minor issues. Nearly a third of patients who said they had detained seeking care are facing a grave health issue. Delaying care for serious health concerns can have costly aftermath for the patient and the doctor.
High telehealth patient satisfaction among specialties
Research has portrayed that patients aren’t just embracing telemedicine for healthcare diseases like flu, cold, and sore throat management. Specialist visits are also ranking high in regarded quality and satisfaction.
Primarily, the Massachusetts General study showed four specialty care services: psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, and oncology. Other researches on telemedicine use in specialty care have portrayed similar patient satisfaction consequences.
- Telehealth research of patients with rare neurological conditions portrayed that patient and doctor satisfaction scores did not vary between personal and telemedicine consultations for future appointments.
- Telehealth research of radiation oncology patients divulged that more than half of all patients reported they favored a mix of telemedicine and personal visits, and only one patient proposed personal visits only.
- Telehealth research of post-liver transplantation patients portrayed that patients were just as content with the communication and interpersonal perspective compared to clinic patients.
- Telehealth research of pregnant women divulged that patients were more satisfied with virtual obstetric care than conventional care.
- Telehealth research of pediatric sports medicine patients revealed that 90% of patients were content with telemedicine care, saved an average of $50 per visit, and redeemed over an hour in total wait and visit time.
Notably, much of the research above was based on information from patients over 50, specifying that patients of all ages embrace telehealth, not just younger people.
Telehealth improving patient care
Satisfaction, time savings, cost savings, and better ingress to healthcare are commonly cited reasons for patient preference for telehealth. Many pieces of research have shown no difference in the quality of patient-doctor communication while still emerging in positive patient results. And in some cases, surveys show better patient outcomes and better medication endearment with telemedicine for care.
Generalizing virtual care and the measurement gadgets to assess quality are two steps towards a better patient experience in telemedicine and how telehealth services can be used as a patient satisfaction tool. As telehealth adoption evolves and patients develop considerable comfort with virtual care, providers must keep patient satisfaction tools and health results on top of mind when offering telemedicine services. Doctors should carefully estimate the best practices and schemes to deploy telemedicine services to provide access to care and facilitate better patient experience. Telemedicine utilities will likely stay and become a usual routine of treatment as it helps doctors broaden their patient amenities and has the potential to manage healthcare costs.
