Patient and clinician experiences with telehealth for patient follow-up care.

OBJECTIVES The increasing and widespread availability of personal technology offers patients and clinicians the opportunity to utilize real-time virtual communication to enhance access to health services. Understanding the perceived value of different modes of care may help to shape the future use of technology. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional surveys of patients and clinicians participating in telehealth virtual video visits (VVVs) in an academic health system. METHODS We administered surveys to 426 unique established patients and 74 attending physicians in our hospital to measure perceptions of the comparative experience of VVVs and office visits; 254 patients and 61 physicians completed the surveys. RESULTS When comparing VVVs and office visits, 62.6% of patients and 59.0% of clinicians reported no difference in "the overall quality of the visit." VVVs were vastly preferred to office visits by patients for convenience and travel time. A majority (52.5%) of clinicians reported higher efficiency of a VVV appointment. CONCLUSIONS For established patients, VVVs may provide effective follow-up and enhanced convenience when compared with traditional office visits.