Patient and clinician satisfaction with video consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity for a new way of working

Abstract

Objective: To assess satisfaction of patients and clinicians with virtual appointments using Attend Anywhere for their orthodontic consultation and to identify any areas where the technology could be further utilised.

Design: Service evaluation involving descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire.

Setting: Orthodontic Departments at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Burnley General Teaching Hospital.

Participants: Patients and clinicians involved in video consultations.

Methods: Patient- and clinician-specific questionnaires were designed and those involved in virtual clinics were invited to complete these at the end of their consultation. The questionnaires focused on setting up and connecting to the virtual clinic, assessing if the correct types of patients were involved in the clinics and satisfaction with these types of remote consultations.

Results: A total of 121 questionnaires (59 patient and 62 clinician) were completed. Of the patients, 93% found the instructions provided to access the consultation easy to follow and 70% of clinicians did not report any connection issues. In 90% of cases, a virtual appointment was seen to be appropriate by the clinician. Respondents showed a high level of satisfaction with 76% of patients saying a remote consultation was more convenient than face-to-face, and 66% reporting they would, if appropriate, like more appointments like this in the future.

Conclusion: The overall satisfaction among patients with virtual clinics introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic was generally high. The majority of patients would, where appropriate, prefer more virtual appointments in the future in comparison to face-to-face appointments and it was found to be more convenient for the patient.

Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; remote consultations; teledentistry; telemedicine; video consultations; virtual clinics.