The Complete Guide to Telehealth Patient Satisfaction And Why It Varies From Different Healthcare Services

The Complete Guide to Telehealth Patient Satisfaction And Why It Varies From Different Healthcare Services
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The Complete Guide to Telehealth Patient Satisfaction And Why It Varies From Different Healthcare Services

What is Telehealth and how does it work?

Telehealth is an emerging field used to help patients overcome health issues. If a patient has a health issue, some patients can use telehealth to go online and speak with a doctor instead of going to a doctor's office or an emergency room. Telehealth is becoming more common and is changing the way patients interact with their doctors.
Imagine a world where you don’t need to travel miles away just to see your doctor or figure out what’s wrong with your condition. Sounds impossible? It’s not!
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It’s not a one-size-fits-all reality

According to a study from the data analytics firm J.D. Power, Patient satisfaction with telehealth can vary widely. While the number of people who are most likely to use telehealth consultation is increasing, there are still patients who prefer an on-site consultation depending on their needs. A vast majority of patients surveyed preferred to have their prescriptions renewed via telehealth, while less than 5% preferred it for post-surgical discharges.
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Christopher Lis, a managing director in J.D. Power’s Global Healthcare practice said “When you need to see the patient and you need to closely examine the patient—especially post-surgical—a very small percentage of folks are going to use telehealth.”
A similar study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found that patients who used telehealth services were more satisfied than those who did not use them.
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However, the study also found that there are significant variations in patient satisfaction depending on the type of telehealth service being used. For example, patients using remote patient monitoring were more satisfied than those using video visits for clinical care.
This is because video visits offer less face-to-face time with a provider and are often more expensive than other types of telehealth services.
The use of telehealth services is on the rise and it is projected to continue to grow. One of the main reasons for this is that they are easy and convenient. The other reason is that they are cutting costs drastically. However, there are some drawbacks to using telehealth services, namely patient satisfaction and informed consent.
Patient satisfaction and informed consent are two important factors in determining whether a patient will use a service again or not and both can be impacted by telehealth services.
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While it plays a major factor in patient satisfaction, Christopher Lis’ study shows that there is a distinction between services that would likely require a physical examination and those that do not. For example, according to his study, more than half of the respondents preferred to use telehealth in receiving their mental healthcare services.

Accessible and Convenience: Way to go in Patients Satisfaction

It is a good thing that we are moving forward with telehealth services because we are able to save more lives. With more life-saving opportunities and increased convenience for patients, this technology has the potential to have a huge impact on society. There are still many people who do not want to use telehealth services but it is important to know how it can benefit us as well in the future.
A common misconception about telehealth is that it replaces human interaction but in reality, patients appreciate the care they receive from their providers. Some might say that they would rather be seen by their provider in person but it is important to consider how they will feel if they were unable to see their provider due to something like an emergency and had only received care through remote consultation.
At the end of the day, everyone wants to have an access to medical services in the most convenient way, not only for the patients but for the practitioners as well.
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Junaid Kalia MD

Written by

Junaid Kalia MD

CEO | Founder | President NeuroCare.AI - Advancing Digital Health Ecosystem in Emerging Countries!

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