Eleanor Layfield, BA1*; Vasiliki Triantafillou, MD2*; Aman Prasad, BS1; Jie Deng, PhD, RN, OCN, FAAN3; Rabie M. Shanti, DMD, MD2; Jason G. Newman, MD2; Karthik Rajasekaran, MD2
1Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
3School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
*Denotes co-first authorship.
Address correspondence and reprint request to:
Karthik Rajasekaran, MD
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
800 Walnut St, 18th floor,
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-829-5180
karthik.rajasekaran@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
This work has not been printed or presented elsewhere.
Short title: Head and Neck Telemedicine Usability and Satisfaction COVID-19
Key words: telemedicine, COVID-19, Patient satisfaction, telehealth usability questionnaire, telehealth
Funding sources: The authors received no specific funding for this work.
Disclosure: The authors have no funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Abstract
Background: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rapid increase in telemedicine visits. Otolaryngology patient satisfaction with these visits has not yet been extensively studied using a validated survey.
Methods: All patients who had telemedicine visits with three head and neck surgeons, by phone or video-based platform, between March 25, 2020 and April 24, 2020. Retrospective chart reviews were conducted to determine demographic, disease and treatment information. Patients who had a video visit were contacted by telephone and, if they could be reached and consented, were administered the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ).
Results: 100 surveys were completed. The average score across all questions was 6.01 on a scale from 1-7, where 7 indicated the highest level of patient agreement. The highest scores were for questions related to satisfaction with telehealth (6.29), while the lowest were related to reliability (4.86).
Conclusions: Patients are generally highly satisfied with telemedicine.