Changing perceptions of telemedicine in a surgical outpatients clinic

Abstract

Background/Aims Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was not widely used in surgical departments. Despite its increased use during the pandemic, there is a lack of data on the patient perspective. This study investigated patients' views of telemedicine in a surgical outpatients clinic setting. Method A single-centre cross-sectional study was performed, involving patients who were due to attend the surgical outpatients clinic of one surgical team. Independent investigators contacted the patients by telephone after their virtual telephone consultation to administer the questionnaire. Patient satisfaction rates were recorded using the PSQ-18 questionnaire. Patient consultation preferences were recorded and analysed. Results A total of 223 patients participated in this study. The majority of patients' perceptions shifted in favour of virtual consultations after the onset of the pandemic (P<0.05). Sub-group analysis showed no significant differences between the preferences of older and younger patients before or after the onset of the pandemic. Overall, patients reported high satisfaction rates with their virtual consultations. Conclusions Patient perceptions are changing in favour of virtual telemedicine consultations. Training healthcare providers in this method of service delivery is essential to maintain a good quality of care.