Courtney Seigel1, Holly Martin3, Grace Bastin3, Laura Myers3, Stanley Taylor2, Francis Pike2, Jayne Wilkinson4, Linda Williams3
1Indiana University School of Medicine, 2Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, 3Roudebush VAMC, 4Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to compare satisfaction with teleneurology between patients with different neurological conditions and to determine if other factors also influence satisfaction.
Background:
The practice of Teleneurology has grown immensely in the past decade. Although satisfaction with outpatient teleneurology has been reported within specific conditions, little is known about satisfaction across general neurologic conditions or what other factors might influence satisfaction with Teleneurology care.
Design/Methods:
This is a prospective cohort study of Veterans who completed a new patient teleneurology outpatient visit as part of the Department of Veteran Affairs National Teleneurology Program. Virtual visits were conducted via video to home or video to outpatient clinic. Patient satisfaction with telehealth was assessed in a telephone interview two weeks after the visit. Satisfaction was a summed score (3-21) of three 7-point Likert questions (higher = more satisfied). Clinical diagnosis groups were determined based on neurologists’ diagnosis. Satisfaction score was modeled using a censored Tobit model controlling for demographics, type of tele-visit, medical comorbidity, and diagnosis groups.
Results:
In FY 2021, 299 of 637 (46.9%) patients contacted agreed to participate in the survey and 277 completed it (43.5%). Of these 277 consults, 70 (25.3%) were for headache, 46 (16.6%) for movement disorders, 45 (16.2%) for symptoms, and 116 (41.9%) for other conditions. Mean patient satisfaction was 18.3 (SD 3.17) and there was no statistically significant difference in satisfaction score between diagnosis groups. The only factor independently related to satisfaction score was medical comorbidity, with higher comorbidity associated with higher satisfaction scores.
Conclusions:
Patients with a variety of neurologic conditions are highly satisfied with their teleneurology experience, and those with more comorbidity report higher satisfaction. This suggests that use of teleneurology may be useful and acceptable across many outpatient neurologic conditions including for medically complex patients.