A new report concludes that patients generally would use telehealth as a regular alternative to office visits—and to receive bad news.

A new report on consumers and telehealth concludes that patients generally would use telehealth as a regular alternative to office visits—and in many instances view a remote consultation as a better way to receive bad news about a lab result or a diagnosis.

The survey by the Thomas Jefferson University Department of Medicine, a part of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia, included lengthy  interviews with 32 patients about what they liked—and didn’t like—about using telehealth rather going to a doctor for a conventional office visit.

All of the patients told researchers they were satisfied with their initial video doctor visit and would like to use telehealth going forward as an alternative to an office appointment. “The primary benefits cited were convenience and decreased costs,” says lead researcher Dr. Rhea Powell. “Some patients felt more comfortable with video visits than office visits and expressed a preference for receiving future serious news via video visit, because they could be in their own supportive environment.”

Our findings suggest that some patients may prefer receiving serious news remotely via video visit for reasons of comfort, social support and privacy.

Thomas Jefferson launched JeffConnect, a consumer telehealth program in 2015, and the 32 patients chosen for the research study had previously used JeffConnect for a video doctor visit. The makeup of the patient group was 53% men and 47% women, and the median age was 43. None of the patients had any prior experience with telehealth, and more than two-thirds of the patients taking part in the study—68%—conducted the telehealth visit at home.

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The researchers chose a small group of participants because they wanted to hear firsthand if telehealth was more convenient than a regular office visit and if the patients would use telehealth on an ongoing basis, Powell says.

Most participants reported a positive experience with video visits, citing the convenience of not having to miss work, travel, or change clothing. “You’re sitting right in your room on your computer,” one patient told researchers. “How much more convenient can that be? I mean you can get on the computer, talk to the doctor, and go back to bed.”

Participants also noted decreased wait times compared to in-office visits, although the study didn’t break out specific metrics. Participants raised cost and transportation as the main considerations favoring video visits over office visits, the research study notes. Costs included gas, parking, co-pays, wait time, and missing work.

Other barriers that video visits minimized included dealing with traffic, being late to appointments, finding offices, scheduling a convenient appointment, childcare, and physical limitations. “I’m personally handicapped, and my left side is a little bit weak and almost paralyzed,” one patient told researchers. “Just getting to an appointment is a task for me, but going down my stairs to my computer is better.”

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The study also showed that some patients prefer hearing test results—including bad news—delivered in the comfort of their home vs. in the doctor’s office. “Video visits may enable more timely communication of test results than in-person appointments,” Rhea says. “Our findings suggest that some patients may prefer receiving serious news remotely via video visit for reasons of comfort, social support and privacy.”

 

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