Telemedicine in rheumatology: a survey of patient and provider satisfaction with virtual care

ABSTRACT

1105 Table 1Telemedicine Seven-item QuestionnaireQuestionnaire Item Response N (%) How satisfied were you with your previous telemedicine visit? Highly satisfied 50 (50%) Satisfied 34 (34%) Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied 11 (11%) Not satisfied 5 (5%) Highly unsatisfied 0 (0%) Reasons for satisfaction? Avoid coming into the office 73 (73%) Call went smoothly 77 (77%) Decrease their concerns over condition, medications and risk of COVID-19 75 (75%) Reasons for unsatisfaction? Technical difficulties 4 (4%) Visit was too short 2 (2%) Visit was too basic for their needs 4 (4%) How comfortable were you with your previous telemedicine visits? Very comfortable 62 (62%) Comfortable 24 (24%) Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable 11 (11%) Uncomfortable 3 (3%) Highly uncomfortable 0 (0%) The physician was able to address what was bothering me through the telemedicine visit? Strongly agree 54 (54%) Agree 37 (37%) Don’t know 5 (5%) Disagree 4 (4%) Strongly disagree 0 (0%) Overall, compared to an in-person visit, the telemedicine visit was? Much better 10 (10%) Better 6 (6%) Same 57 (57%) Worse 25 (25%) Much worse 2 (2%) I would have a telemedicine appointment in the future, if given the option. Yes 77 (77%) Unsure 14 (14%) No 9 (9%) Abstract 1105 Table 2Demographic characteristics of study subjectsCharacteristics Categories N (%) Gender Male 9 (9%) Female 91 (91%) Age (years) 20-30 18 (18%) 30-40 22 (22%) 40-50 22 (22%) 50-60 21 (21%) 60-70 13 (13%) 70-80 4 (4%) Race White 41 (41%) Black or African American 25 (25%) Asian 7 (7%) Hispanic 26 (26%) Health insurance Insured 100 (100%) Uninsured 0 (0%) Diagnoses Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) 60 (60%) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) 7 (7%) Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Diseases (UCTD) 7 (7%) Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) 5 (5%) Sjogren’s Syndrome (SS) 4 (4%) Spondylitis 3 (3%) Other (Sarcoidosis, Myositis, Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, Uveitis, Vasculitis) 14 (14%) ConclusionsOur cohort showed high rate of patient satisfaction with telemedicine healthcare. However, the relatively low healthcare provider satisfaction rate raises concern as to whether elemedicine constitutes a satisfactory alternative to conventional in-person care. Additional researches are required to investigate the feasibility of telemedicine in long-term disease activity evaluation and patient outcome measurement.