Background: Escalating demand for specialist health care puts considerable demand on hospital services. Technology offers a means by which health care providers may increase the efficiency of health care delivery.
Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a pilot study of the feasibility, benefits, and drawbacks of a virtual clinic (VC) in the general surgical service of a busy tertiary center.
Methods: Patient satisfaction with current care and attitudes to VC were surveyed prospectively in the general surgical outpatient department (OPD; n=223). A subset of patients who had undergone endoscopy and day surgery were recruited to follow-up in a VC and subsequently surveyed with regard to their satisfaction (20/243). Other outcomes measured included a comparison of consultation times in traditional and virtual outpatient settings and financial cost to both patients and the institution.
Results: Almost half of the patients reported barriers to prospective use of VCs. However, within the cohort who had been followed-up in the VC, satisfaction was higher than the traditional OPD (100% as compared with 187/223, 83.9%). Significant savings in both time (P=.003) and financial costs to patients and the institution were found.
Conclusions: For an appropriately selected group of patients, VCs offer a viable alternative to traditional OPD. This alternative can improve both patient satisfaction and efficiency of patient care.
Keywords: delivery of health care; outpatient care; remote consultation; surgery; telemedicine.
©Emily Rutherford, Roghinio Noray, Caolán Ó HEarráin, Kevin Quinlan, Aisling Hegarty, Lenin Ekpotu, Chinedum Arize, Fiyinfoluwa Fabamwo, Abdulaziz Alrubaiaan, Avinash Bhupalan, Abdulla Alshehhi, Colm Power, Arnold David Konrad Hill. Originally published in JMIR Perioperative Medicine (http://periop.jmir.org), 13.01.2020.