Patient and Provider Satisfaction With Telehealth Preanesthesia Examinations

Abstract

Purpose: Telehealth has become commonplace in many healthcare systems across the United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large academic medical center in the southeast USA has increased the use of telehealth in the anesthesia department to complete preanesthetic assessments before the patient's surgery. This has allowed high-risk patient populations to limit potential exposure to COVID-19 and limit the financial burden of traveling from neighboring counties to complete their preanesthetic assessment in person. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a preanesthetic assessment via telehealth among patients undergoing anesthesia.

Design: A quality improvement project.

Methods: Two separate surveys assessing patient and provider satisfaction with telehealth preanesthesia assessments were developed. Patients undergoing anesthesia at the medical center completed a telehealth preanesthesia assessment and received a satisfaction survey via email post-procedure. Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) who cared for patients that completed a telehealth preanesthesia assessment also received an emailed satisfaction survey.

Findings: Results demonstrate high satisfaction scores for both patients and providers.

Conclusions: Current telehealth preanesthetic assessments prompt high satisfaction scores, supporting continued, and expanded use.

Keywords: anesthesia; perioperative; preanesthetic evaluation; satisfaction; telehealth.