ABSTRACT
Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) pandemic caused radical changes in health care delivery. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) during the COVID-19 pandemic recommended using telehealth to the greatest extent possible to continue evaluating and treating patients. And while generally well-received by patients and providers, there is limited literature on the use of telehealth in low-income, non-English-speaking patients who might have difficulty accessing technology and resources required for telehealth visits. The objective of this survey study was to analyze patient perspectives of telehealth amongst this underserved population seeking infertility care. Material(s) and Method(s): We performed a cross-sectional survey study by distributing an anonymous, web-based survey to patients who had at least one telehealth visit at the Los Angeles County Hospital Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility clinic between February-April, 2022. The survey included questions from the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ), a validated tool that assesses the quality and usability of telehealth on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree), and also gathered demographic data. The primary outcome was overall satisfaction using telehealth. Fisher's exact tests were used to compare groups, with a P value <0.05 considered statistically significant. Result(s): 140 patients were invited to participate in the study, and 98 completed the survey (70%). A majority of respondents were Hispanic (76%), and had an annual income of less than $40,000 (60%). Most respondents believed telehealth improved their access to healthcare (87%), thought telehealth visits were as good as in-person visits (66%), considered telehealth an acceptable way to receive care regarding infertility (76%), and were overall satisfied with their telehealth visit (95%). Only 12% of respondents had difficulty using the telehealth platform or communicating with their doctor, and these patients were more likely to speak Spanish as their primary language (P = 0.04). Conclusion(s): Even among minority and low-income patients, telehealth is an effective and satisfactory method to provide infertility counseling and treatment. Patient satisfaction can be further improved by improving usability by non-English speakers. Impact Statement: Telehealth can improve access to infertility care among minority and low-income patient populations with high rates of patient satisfaction. REFERENCES:: Parmanto B, Lewis AN Jr, Graham KM, Bertolet MH. Development of the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ). Int J Telerehabil. 2016;8(1):3-10. Published 2016 Jul 1. Copyright © 2022