Virtual video visits get high marks from Mass General patients

A survey conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital shows the majority of patients view telehealth as equal to or better than office visits in terms of convenience, without compromising care quality.

In fact, 68 percent of patients rated virtual video visits as a 9 or 10 level based on a 10-point scale, according to a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

Further, 82 percent of patients indicated that they would recommend this form of telehealth to their family and friends.

“Our data—gathered from patients and clinicians during and following an initial full year of experience with the MGH Center for TeleHealth’s VVV implementation—show a high degree of patient and clinician satisfaction, as measured by both ratings of overall visit quality and willingness to recommend the visits,” conclude the authors.

Also See: Telemedicine improves patient postoperative care

Among the other findings of the study:

• 79 percent of responding patients who participated in the program felt that finding a convenient time for a follow-up virtual video visit was easier than for a traditional office visit.

• 62 percent of responding patients reported the quality of virtual video visits was no different from that of office visits, and 21 percent thought virtual visits' overall quality was better.

• 59 percent of health professionals providing virtual video visits agreed that, for the patients selected for these visits, virtual visit quality was similar to that of office visits.

“Our findings confirm what I felt in my gut, which is that what patients’ value most is uninterrupted time with their doctor, and they put up with all the other challenges required to come see us,” says senior author Lee Schwamm, MD, director of the MGH Center for TeleHealth.

“Telehealth gives them more of what (patients) want most and gets rid of the stuff they don't want,” adds Schwamm. “With a telehealth visit, 95 percent of the time spent by the patient is face-to-face with the doctor, compared with less than 20 percent of a traditional visit, in which most time is spent traveling and waiting. Seen through that lens, our results are not surprising.”

At the same time, researchers emphasized that virtual video visits are “unlikely to be a useful substitute for an in-office visit in some clinical situations—for example, those with more complexity and need for physical examination or observation.”