Patients satisfied with telehealth primary care visits

(HealthDay)—Patients express satisfaction with telehealth primary care video visits, with most reporting interest in continuing use of video visits as an alternative to in-person visits, according to a study published in the May/June issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

Rhea E. Powell, M.D., M.P.H., from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and colleagues analyzed data from in-depth qualitative interviews with 19 adult patients after video visits with their primary care clinicians. A content analysis approach was used to analyze the data.

The researchers found that all patients reported overall satisfaction with video visits; most reported being interested in continuing use of video visits as an alternative to in-person visits. Convenience and decreased costs were the main benefits cited. Some of the patients reported feeling more comfortable with video visits and preferred to receive serious news via video visits, as they could be in their own supportive environment. Lack of privacy, such as the potential for work colleagues to overhear, was reported as one of the primary concerns with video visits; the ability of the clinician to perform an adequate physical examination was another concern.

"Primary care video visits are acceptable in a variety of situations," the authors write. "Future studies should explore which patients and conditions are best suited for video visits."

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