Willingness to consider and to pay for a variety of telehealth services amongst adult hearing clinic clients

Abstract

Objective To examine willingness to consider and to pay for various one-to-one telehealth appointments and online group training/information sessions amongst hearing service clients interested in future telehealth. Design Online survey exploring telehealth usage and attitudes more broadly. Study sample One-hundred-and-sixty-eight (39.8%) of the 422 survey respondents who answered the question were interested in future hearing-related telehealth. Data were analysed for the 148 providing demographic information. Results At least some respondents were interested in each type of one-to-one appointment (∼30–60% for most types) and group training/information session (∼30–50% for most types). Some inconsistent associations were found between willingness to consider individual appointment types and a metropolitan location, younger age, and female gender. Associations with having a hearing device fitted may have been influenced by the different needs of those without devices. Younger respondents were more likely to consider a wide range of appointment types. Being younger was associated with an interest in 7 of the 9 different group session types. The acceptable price range was AUD$30–$86 (USD$22–$62) (n = 129) for one-to-one appointments and AUD$47–$103 (USD$34–$73) for three group sessions (n = 99). Conclusions Despite additional communication needs, hearing service clients have a strong interest in a range of individual and group telehealth services.