Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders as well as shortages of personal protective equipment forced primary care physicians (PCPs) to transition rapidly from in-person visits to telehealth. While telehealth expanded extensively in a short period of time, research about the consequences of the shift to remote care is lacking. The objective of this qualitative study was to examine how telehealth benefited PCPs and their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: From July to August 2020, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 PCPs associated with a single academic medical center to examine their perspectives about delivering care remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using deductive thematic analysis.
Results: PCPs identified several benefits of remote care delivery for both physicians and patients. They indicated that (1) patients were reassured that they could receive safe and timely care, (2) remote visits were convenient for patients, (3) patients were comfortable receiving care at home, and (4) video visits enhanced patient- and family-centered care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants also noted that (1) telehealth accommodated working from home, (2) physicians were equitably reimbursed for telehealth visits, and that (3) telehealth promoted physician work-life balance.
Conclusions: Our data provides preliminary evidence that PCPs and their patients had positive experiences with remote care during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Physicians identified opportunities by which telehealth could enhance the delivery of patient-centered care by allowing them to see patients' home environments and to engage family members and caregivers during telehealth visits. More research is needed to understand how to sustain these benefits beyond the global COVID-19 pandemic and ensure patients' needs are met.