Telemedicine for Retinal Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey of the Patient Perspective

Prem N Patel; Parth A Patel; Davis Bhagat; Neha Chittaluru; Harit Bhatt; Rama Jager; Meena George; Veeral Sheth

doi:10.1007/s40123-022-00555-2

Telemedicine for Retinal Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey of the Patient Perspective

Ophthalmol Ther. 2022 Oct;11(5):1925-1936. doi: 10.1007/s40123-022-00555-2. Epub 2022 Aug 3.

Authors

Prem N Patel¹, Parth A Patel², Davis Bhagat³, Neha Chittaluru³, Harit Bhatt³, Rama Jager³, Meena George³, Veeral Sheth⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA.
³ University Retina and Macula Associates, 6320 W 159th St suite A, Oak Forest, IL, 60452, USA.
⁴ University Retina and Macula Associates, 6320 W 159th St suite A, Oak Forest, IL, 60452, USA. vsheth@uretina.com.

Abstract

Introduction: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has emerged as a safe and cost-effective alternative to traditional ophthalmology clinic visits. This study evaluated patient attitudes towards telemedicine at a full-service, retina-only practice to identify areas for growth in implementation.

Methods: A survey was distributed to established patients at University Retina and Macula Associates following the completion of a telemedicine encounter in July 2021. On a 5-point Likert scale, patients compared telemedicine to in-person visits for six domains: ability to ease COVID-related anxiety, efficiency, patient education, quality of care, fulfillment of personal needs, and convenience. Pearson's χ² and Fisher's exact test were used to assess correlations between demographic factors and patient attitudes or preference towards telemedicine.

Results: Among 103 respondents, two-thirds (68.7%) preferred in-person compared to telemedicine encounters. Overall, patients had a neutral attitude towards telemedicine [mean Likert rating (SD) = 3.11/5 ± 0.82]. Questions assessing "patient education" and "telemedicine efficiency" received the greatest proportion of positive and negative responses, respectively. Positive attitudes were more frequent among patients with prior telemedicine experience (87.5%) compared to never-users (71.8%; p = 0.046). Patients ≥ 75 years old tended to negatively assess telemedicine regarding reduction of COVID-19-related anxiety, efficiency, patient education, and physician facetime (p < 0.05 for all). A positive but non-significant trend was observed between higher education level and positive attitude towards telemedicine (p = 0.18). Telehealth never-users more often negatively rated receiving adequate facetime with the physician virtually (54.7%) compared to prior users (25.6%; p = 0.004). Younger age, prior history of telemedicine use, and higher education level were associated with increased preference for telemedicine (p < 0.05 for all).

Conclusion: Our findings revealed hesitance remains among patients towards adoption of telemedicine. Targeting age-, experience-, and education-related barriers will be invaluable for increasing acceptance of this healthcare delivery model.

Keywords: COVID-19; Patient satisfaction; Preference; Retinal care; Telemedicine.