Study assesses patient satisfaction with telemedicine

Patients generally exhibit high levels of satisfaction with telemedicine consultations, according to a new study. The time interval between the consultation and the assessment was one factor found to influence patient satisfaction.

The findings are published in the journal Telemedicine and e-Health.

Maria Eulália Vinadé Chagas, from Hospital Moinhos de Vento and Universidade Federal de Ciência da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil and co-authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess patient satisfaction related to telemedicine consultations and to identify key factors influencing satisfaction levels.

"Our results demonstrate that patients are satisfied with the care provided by telemedicine, regardless of the specialty in which the teleconsultation took place," stated the investigators. "Patients have readily accepted telemedicine because among other aspects it allows access to doctors in places without health care; the discussion of cased between professionals to aid diagnosis and treatment; screening that enables early diagnosis; and the avoidance of displacement to large centers or crowded emergency rooms."

"Imagine rolling back the clock before telemedicine, there was limited access to health care and many other challenges that simply do not exist any longer. Telemedicine has eliminated many of those barriers worldwide," says Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal and Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, and Director of the Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.