Abstract
Background
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinics were forced to implement telehealth into clinical practice. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients are a unique population that require long-term care to achieve and maintain deep remission of disease. Thus, they require stable and continuous contact with healthcare providers, often with multiple appointments. We examined an IBD predominant practice, also providing care for general gastrointestinal (GI) conditions in Kelowna, British Columbia. As telehealth has the potential to become a standard of care for clinics, patient satisfaction must be considered. We hypothesize that with the efficacy and ease of remote appointments, there will be an increase in patient satisfaction, quality of care, and quality of communication.
Aims
We aim to compare the level of patient satisfaction between in-person appointments pre-pandemic, and current remote appointment telehealth practices.
Methods
An online survey was sent to the 608 patients who had participated in one or more remote appointment between March 15-June 15, 2020. The survey compared the level of patient satisfaction, quality of care, and quality of communication between patient and doctor before and during the pandemic. It was also determined if patients would elect to continue with remote appointments in the future due to ease of use, and time/financial resources saved.
Results
Of the 273 participants, 80% were IBD patients while 20% were treated for other GI conditions. A total of 78% reported that they would elect to continue with remote appointments as their primary point of care with their doctor. The remaining 22% reported that they prefer in-person visits due to the necessity of a physical exam, yet specified that communication by these remote means was still of good quality. Levels of patient satisfaction before and during the pandemic remained consistent, where 59% of patients assigned a satisfaction rating of 10 (highest) to their pre-pandemic in-person appointments, and 54% of patients assigned a rating of 10 to their remote appointments during the pandemic. Similar consistent results were found for quality of care and quality of communication. A total of 70% of patients reported that if this service had not been available, they would have sought out other forms of care; 18% of the total responses considering emergency care.
Conclusions
IBD patients at Kelowna Gastroenterology perceived similar levels of satisfaction, quality of care, and quality of communication with both in-person and telehealth appointments. This suggests that telehealth practices may be a cost-effective, sustainable appointment style that provides comparable quality to in-person appointments.
Funding Agencies
None
Best Practice Guidance for Adult Infusion Centres during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Report from the COVID-19 International Organization for the Study of IBD [IOIBD] Task Force
