Patient and Physician Satisfaction with Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Sports Medicine Perspective

Abstract

Background:

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a large shift in health care toward virtual platforms. This study analyzed patient and physician satisfaction with telehealth during the height of the pandemic within the division of sports medicine.

Methods:

All sports medicine patients who completed a telemedicine visit from March 30, 2020, through April 30, 2020, were sent a 14-question Likert scale (1–5/5) survey. Sports medicine physicians who used telemedicine were sent a separate 14-question Likert scale (1–5/5) survey at the end of the study period. Factors influencing patient satisfaction were determined using a multivariate linear regression model.

Results:

A total of 143 patients and 9 sports medicine attendings completed the surveys. Most patients were “satisfied” (4/5) or “very satisfied” (5/5) (88.8%). A multivariate linear regression determined that patients who believed they had a greater ability to adopt new technology and were more effective at communicating questions/concerns to their physicians had greater satisfaction (p = 0.009 and p = 0.015, respectively). Most physicians were either “satisfied” (4/5) or “very satisfied” (5/5) (75.0%). On average, physicians felt that physical examinations conducted through telemedicine were “moderately effective” (2.75/5.00 ± 1.3), that they were “fairly confident” (3.86/5.00 ± 0.83) in their diagnoses, and that most sports medicine attendings plan to use telemedicine in the future (87.5%).

Conclusion:

Telehealth emerged as a valuable tool for the delivery of health care to sports medicine patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients and physicians reported high levels of satisfactions with its use, and this study further identifies areas that can improve the patient and physician experience.