Face time with physicians: How do patients assess providers in video-visits?

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a massive acceleration in the use of virtual and video-visits. As more patients and providers engage in video-visits over varied digital platforms, it is important to understand how patients assess their providers and the video-visit experiences. We also need to examine the relative importance of the factors that patients use in their assessment of video-visits in order to improve the overall healthcare experience and delivery. Methods: A data set of 5149 reviews of patients completing a video-visit was assembled through web scraping. Sentiment analysis was performed on the reviews and topic modeling was used to extract latent topics embedded in the reviews and their relative importance. Results: Most patient reviews (89.53%) reported a positive sentiment towards their providers in video-visits. Seven distinct topics underlying the reviews were identified: bedside manners, professional expertise, virtual experience, appointment scheduling and follow-up process, wait times, costs, and communication. Communication, bedside manners and professional expertise were the top factors patients alluded to in the positive reviews. Appointment-scheduling and follow-ups, wait-times, costs, virtual experience and professional expertise were important factors in the negative reviews. Discussion: To improve the overall experience of patients in video-visits, providers need to engage in clear communication, grow excellent bedside and webside manners, promptly attend the video-visit with minimal delays and follow-up with patients after the visit.

Do Patients Assess Physicians Differently in Video Visits as Compared with In-Person Visits? Insights from Text-Mining Online Physician Reviews.

Introduction: Use of both in-person and video visits have become a common norm in health care delivery, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is imperative to understand how patients feel about their providers and their experiences during in-person and video visits. This study examines the important factors that patients use in their reviews and differences in the relative importance. Methods: We performed sentiment analysis and topic modeling on online physician reviews from April 2020 to April 2022. Our dataset comprised 34,824 reviews posted by patients after completing in-person or video visits. Results: Sentiment analysis yielded 27,507 (92.69%) positive and 2,168 (7.31%) negative reviews for in-person visits, and 4,610 (89.53%) positive and 539 (10.47%) negative reviews for video visits. Topic modeling identified seven factors patients used in their reviews: Bedside manners, Medical Expertise, Communication, Visit Environment, Scheduling and Follow-up, Wait times, and Costs and insurance. Patients who gave positive reviews after in-person consultations more frequently mentioned communication, office environment and staff, and bedside manners. Those who gave negative reviews after in-person visits mentioned longer wait times, providers' office and staff, medical expertise, and costs and insurance problems. Patients with positive reviews after video visits emphasized communication, bedside manners, and medical expertise. However, patients posting negative reviews after video visits frequently mentioned problems with appointment scheduling and follow-up, medical expertise, wait times, costs and insurance, and technical problems in video visits. Conclusions: This study identified key factors that influence patients' assessment of their providers in in-person and video visits. Paying attention to these factors can help improve the overall patient experience.