Evaluating the patient experience with urological video visits at an academic medical center

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine utilization, including use of video visits, is growing rapidly. While much enthusiasm surrounds telemedicine, the successful implementation of video visits within health systems requires providers to evaluate patient's experience with the implemented technology and workflow. Methods: Twenty patients who completed a video visit in the Department of Urology at Michigan Medicine were contacted and asked if they would be willing to share their experience. Patients underwent a semi-structured telephone interview. Using an interview guide, patients were asked questions about the enrollment process, their overall impression of the visit, and feedback to improve the visit. Interview comments were categorized into three primary themes: usability, quality of the visit, and comparison to a traditional in-clinic visit. Results: Most patients who underwent a urological video visit were highly satisfied with their experience. Most patients also reported being able to join the video visit with minimal issues. However, some patients expressed issues downloading the application and interpreting our educational materials. In regard to quality of the visit, most patients were impressed and pleased. While there was no criticism regarding the picture-quality of the video visit, a few patients reported issues with the audio. It was apparent that quality of video was dependent on quality of the patient's internet connection. When comparing the video visit to a traditional in-clinic visit, patients-especially parents with children at home-found the video visit to be more efficient. Conclusions: Our study found that patients were pleased with their urological video visit experience, and there were details about our workflow that would not have been evident without interviews. These findings suggest that while video visits are suitable alternatives to in-clinic appointments at academic medical centers, it is important for providers to obtain direct feedback from patients to identify workflow and technical issues.

Video Visits as a Substitute for Urological Clinic Visits

“…Prior researchers have demonstrated the value of urologic video visits in an outpatient setting and studies have confirmed that telehealth is not only a safe alternative to urologic clinic visits but also cost-effective, more efficient for patients, and with high patient satisfaction. 10,[22][23][24] While the overall revisit rate for clinic encounters was higher than video visits in our study, this difference was primarily driven by previously scheduled appointments. When we compared the clinically relevant revisit rate, we found no difference between video and clinic visits.…”

Ophthalmology Practice During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: The University of Pittsburgh Experience in Promoting Clinic Safety and Embracing Video Visits

“…Video visits have been reported in other surgical subspecialties [19][20][21]. However, realtime video interactions for ophthalmic visits have not previously been described, and video visits had not previously been offered by our department.…”

Telemedicine, Patient Satisfaction, and Chronic Rhinosinusitis Care in the Era of COVID-19

“…Our findings are consistent with prior studies comparing patient-reported satisfaction telehealth visits to in-person visits across non-otolaryngologic surgical subspecialties. 3,[7][8][9] The application of telemedicine in otolaryngology has evolved over time. Studies from the 1990s demonstrated successful pairing of otolaryngologists with general practitioners in remote areas with limited access to specialty surgical care.…”

“…While telemedicine has historically been associated with high levels of patient satisfaction, 3,[6][7][8][9] many of these studies have not previously incorporated the use of validated patient satisfaction surveys into their study design. Furthermore, several recently published commentaries in the otolaryngology literature have outlined the broad implementation of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”