Patient Satisfaction with Neurosurgery Telemedicine Visits During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study.
World Neurosurg
; 145: e184-e191, 2021 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-907982
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Telemedicine refers to various modalities for remote care, including telephone calls, imaging review, and real-time video teleconferencing visits. Although it has not been widely used in outpatient neurosurgery settings, the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has necessitated a broader adoption. Our goal is to show the level of patient satisfaction with their telemedicine care.METHODS:
We prospectively studied consecutive telemedicine patients who scheduled outpatient neurosurgery visits from May 15 to June 8, 2020. Patients were seen by the surgeon via real-time video conferencing using Google Meet, and then completed a telemedicine satisfaction survey. Our primary outcome was telemedicine satisfaction scores. We compared satisfaction scores between new and established patients and between patients within and outside of a 15-mile radius of the nearest clinic location. Sensitivity analyses were performed to account for the nonrespondents. Descriptive and univariate analyses were performed. A P value of <0.05 was considered significant.RESULTS:
Five-hundred and ninety patients completed a telemedicine visit during the study period. One patient from out of state was excluded. Three-hundred and ten patients (52.6%) responded. The average age was 60.9 ± 13.60 years; 59% were female, 20.6% were new patients; the average distance to the clinic was 28.03 ± 36.09 km (17.42 ± 22.43 miles). The mean overall satisfaction score was 6.32 ± 1.27. Subgroup analyses by new/established patient status and distance from their home to the clinic showed no significant difference in mean satisfaction scores between groups.CONCLUSIONS:
Telemedicine provided a viable and satisfactory option for neurosurgical patients in the outpatient setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Satisfaction
/
Telemedicine
/
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
/
Neurosurgery
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
World Neurosurg
Journal subject:
Neurosurgery
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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