Patterns of Use and Correlates of Patient Satisfaction with a Large Nationwide Direct to Consumer Telemedicine Service

ObjectivesTelemedicine is the use of telecommunication to provide healthcare remotely. We sought to quantify time/cost savings and satisfaction between a cohort of telemedicine and inperson visits in a tertiary paediatric orthopaedic clinic.MethodsTime for clinical visits and wait times were compared between telemedicine and inperson visits. Costs to patients and department were also calculated for both visit types. Parents completed a five-item satisfaction survey regarding their telemedicine experience.ResultsVisit times (15 vs 68 min, P<0.001) and wait times (2 vs 33 min, P<0.001) were shorter for telemedicine visits. Families saved 85 miles of driving and $50 in costs per telemedicine visit. Labour cost saved for a telemedicine visit was $24/patient. More than 90% of patients were satisfied with the telemedicine service.ConclusionTelemedicine can be used in a sports medicine setting to provide care that reduces costs while maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction.Level of evidenceLevel III.

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Implementation and Application of Telemedicine in China: Cross-Sectional Study

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/18426 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. e18426

Author(s):

Fangfang Cui ◽

Qianqian Ma ◽

Xianying He ◽

Yunkai Zhai ◽

Jie Zhao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Storage ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Virtual Private Network ◽

Remote Education ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Telemedicine Service ◽

Direct To Consumer ◽

Number Of Patients ◽

Tertiary Hospitals ◽

Private Network

Background Telemedicine has been used widely in China and has benefited a large number of patients, but little is known about the overall development of telemedicine. Objective The aim of this study was to perform a national survey to identify the overall implementation and application of telemedicine in Chinese tertiary hospitals and provide a scientific basis for the successful expansion of telemedicine in the future. Methods The method of probability proportionate to size sampling was adopted to collect data from 161 tertiary hospitals in 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Charts and statistical tests were applied to compare the development of telemedicine, including management, network, data storage, software and hardware equipment, and application of telemedicine. Ordinal logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between these factors and telemedicine service effect. Results Approximately 93.8% (151/161) of the tertiary hospitals carried out telemedicine services in business-to-business mode. The most widely used type of telemedicine network was the virtual private network with a usage rate of 55.3% (89/161). Only a few tertiary hospitals did not establish data security and cybersecurity measures. Of the 161 hospitals that took part in the survey, 100 (62.1%) conducted remote videoconferencing supported by hardware instead of software. The top 5 telemedicine services implemented in the hospitals were teleconsultation, remote education, telediagnosis of medical images, tele-electrocardiography, and telepathology, with coverage rates of 86.3% (139/161), 57.1% (92/161), 49.7% (80/161), 37.9% (61/161), and 33.5% (54/161), respectively. The average annual service volume of teleconsultation reached 714 cases per hospital. Teleconsultation and telediagnosis were the core charging services. Multivariate analysis indicated that the adoption of direct-to-consumer mode (P=.003), support from scientific research funds (P=.01), charging for services (P<.001), number of medical professionals (P=.04), network type (P=.02), sharing data with other hospitals (P=.04), and expertise level (P=.03) were related to the effect of teleconsultation. Direct-to-consumer mode (P=.01), research funding (P=.01), charging for services (P=.01), establishment of professional management departments (P=.04), and 15 or more instances of remote education every month (P=.01) were found to significantly influence the effect of remote education. Conclusions A variety of telemedicine services have been implemented in tertiary hospitals in China with a promising prospect, but the sustainability and further standardization of telemedicine in China are still far from accomplished.

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Direct to consumer advertising of robotic heart bypass surgery

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing ◽

10.1108/ijphm-05-2015-0016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 358-375 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Soroosh Kiani ◽

Dinesh Kurian ◽

Stanislav Henkin ◽

Pranjal Desai ◽

Frederic Brunel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Patient Satisfaction ◽

Clinical Outcomes ◽

Functional Capacity ◽

Artery Bypass ◽

Perioperative Outcomes ◽

Content Type ◽

Direct To Consumer ◽

Unmet Expectations ◽

Direct To Consumer Advertising ◽

The Impact

Purpose Robotic coronary artery bypass (rCABG) is a relatively novel and less invasive form of surgery. A yearlong direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) campaign was initiated to provide the community with information regarding rCABG, increase awareness and recruit patients. To optimize information content and ensure appropriate messaging for future campaigns, this study aims to analyze the campaign effectiveness and compared service quality perceptions and clinical outcomes, following surgery across DTCA-responder and control groups. Design/methodology/approach The institution initiated an rCABG program and one-year DTCA campaign. The authors prospectively documented all rCABG referrals prompted by these ads (DTCA-responder group) and concurrent referrals from medical providers (controls). Groups were compared according to baseline characteristics, perioperative outcomes, patient satisfaction (HCAHPS survey) and functional capacity at three weeks (Duke Activity Status Index). At six months, both groups were surveyed for patient satisfaction and unmet expectations. Findings There were 103 DTCA responders and 77 controls. The subset of responders that underwent rCABG (n = 54) had similar characteristics to controls, except they were younger, less likely to have lung disease or to be scheduled as an urgent case. Both groups had similar 30-day clinical outcomes, functional capacity recovery and overall satisfaction at three weeks. Follow-up interviews at six months and four years revealed that the DTCA group reported more unmet expectations regarding the “size of the skin incisions” and “recovery time” but no concern about “expertise of their surgeon”. Practical implications The DTCA campaign was effective at recruiting patients. The specific focus of the ads and narrow timeframe for decision-making about CABG lends confidence that the incremental cases seen during the campaign were prompted primarily by DTCA. However, differences in unmet expectations underscore the need to better understand the impact of message content on patients recruited via DTCA campaigns. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to provide real-world direct empirical evidence of patients’ clinical and attitudinal outcomes for DTCA campaigns. Furthermore, the findings contradict prevailing beliefs that DTCA is ineffective for prompting surgical referrals.

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Patient satisfaction with teledermatology services

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare ◽

10.1258/135763303321159684 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 42-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Lanis L Hicks ◽

Keith E Boles ◽

Stanton Hudson ◽

Barry Kling ◽

Joe Tracy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Patient Satisfaction ◽

Likert Scale ◽

Telemedicine Service ◽

Level Of Satisfaction ◽

High Level

We collected data on patient satisfaction with the use of teledermatology services. During a 27-month study, a single dermatologist saw a total of 321 patients via telemedicine. The patients completed 483 surveys, although not all questions were answered on all surveys. There was a high level of satisfaction among patients using teledermatology: 88% of 258 respondents said that they were satisfied with their telemedicine session. In terms of the eight questions on the questionnaire, 84% of the responses were in the top two positive categories on a seven-point Likert scale. In addition, access to dermatology appeared to increase with the availability of the telemedicine service.

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