Assessing Orthopedic Patient Preferences for Mandated Virtual Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Elective Virtual Care in Non-Pandemic Circumstances.

The purpose of this study was to compare orthopedic patient preferences for mandated virtual care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and elective virtual care during non-pandemic circumstances. An orthopedic virtual care questionnaire was administered to adult orthopedic patients undergoing their first orthopedic virtual visit between March 15, 2020, and May 18, 2020. The questionnaire had 13 items rated on a 1-to-5 Likert scale ("strongly agree" to "strongly disagree"). Responses were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and nonparametric Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Patients showed higher preferences for mandated virtual care during the pandemic when compared with elective virtual care during non-pandemic circumstances (2.25±1.31 vs 4.10±1.25, P<.0001) and also preferred virtual visits in other specialties compared with orthopedics (2.17±1.35 vs 2.79±1.42, P<.0001). Patients older than 50 years were more likely to view virtual care as the best option during the pandemic (2.06±1.25 vs 2.48±1.35, P<.0165) and equally as effective as in-person visits in non-pandemic circumstances (2.45±1.36 vs 2.83±1.18, P<.0150). Female patients were more likely to pursue future orthopedic virtual visits (2.61±1.37 vs 3.07±1.45, P<.0203) and view their virtual visit as equally effective as an in-person visit (2.47±1.33 vs 2.87±1.18, P<.0181). Orthopedic patient preference for mandated virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be higher than for elective virtual care during non-pandemic circumstances, and older and female patients appear to favor virtual care. [Orthopedics. 2021;44(4):e471-e476.].

Orthopaedic provider perceptions of virtual care : which providers prefer virtual care?

AIMS: The purpose of our study was to determine which groups of orthopaedic providers favour virtual care, and analyze overall orthopaedic provider perceptions of virtual care. We hypothesize that providers with less clinical experience will favour virtual care, and that orthopaedic providers overall will show increased preference for virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and decreased preference during non-pandemic circumstances. METHODS: An orthopaedic research consortium at an academic medical system developed a survey examining provider perspectives regarding orthopaedic virtual care. Survey items were scored on a 1 to 5 Likert scale (1 = "strongly disagree", 5 = "strongly agree") and compared using nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Providers with less experience were more likely to recommend virtual care for follow-up visits (3.61 on the Likert scale (SD 0.95) vs 2.90 (SD 1.23); p = 0.006) and feel that virtual care was essential to patient wellbeing (3.98 (SD 0.95) vs 3.00 (SD 1.16); p < 0.001) during the pandemic. Less experienced providers also viewed virtual visits as providing a similar level of care as in-person visits (2.41 (SD 1.02) vs 1.76 (SD 0.87); p = 0.006) and more time-efficient than in-person visits (3.07 (SD 1.19) vs 2.34 (SD 1.14); p = 0.012) in non-pandemic circumstances. During the pandemic, most providers viewed virtual care as effective in providing essential care (83.6%, n = 51) and wanted to schedule patients for virtual care follow-up (82.2%, n = 50); only 10.9% (n = 8) of providers preferred virtual visits in non-pandemic circumstances. CONCLUSION: Orthopaedic providers with less clinical experience seem to favourably view virtual care both during the pandemic and under non-pandemic circumstances. Providers in general appear to view virtual care positively during the pandemic but are less accommodating towards it in non-pandemic circumstances. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(6):405-410.