Patient Perceptions of Telehealth Orthopedic Services in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic necessitated an unprecedented increase in the use of telehealth services in orthopedics. Patient attitudes toward and satisfaction with virtual orthopedic services remain largely unexplored. A prospective study of all orthopedic patients at a tertiary academic medical center who had a telehealth appointment between April 1, 2020, and May 5, 2020, was performed to assess patients' experience with a validated 21-item telehealth satisfaction questionnaire. The survey contained statements designed to assess patients' level of agreement with numerous aspects of telehealth, including convenience, the surgeon's ability to engage in care, ease of use, and future use of telehealth. Most respondents (86.7%) were satisfied with the telehealth system. The majority of patients expressed that the system is easy to use (90.0%), is convenient (86.7%), and saves them time (83.3%). Nearly all (95%) patients agreed that their surgeon could answer their questions with the use of this technology, although nearly half (46.6%) identified the lack of physical contact during the examination as problematic. Only 46.7% of patients agreed that telehealth should be a standard form of health care delivery in the future; these patients were found to have significantly longer commute times compared with those who did not (52.1±58.2 vs 28.3±19.2, P=.03). Patient perspectives on the widespread adoption of telehealth, such as ease of use, privacy protection, and convenience, showed that these anticipated barriers may be some of the greatest advantages of telehealth. The COVID-19 pandemic may have provided the momentum for telehealth to become a mainstay of orthopedic health care delivery in the future. [Orthopedics. 2021;44(5):e668-e674.].