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While the US debates the value of the modality, a South Korean survey finds that patients like to use audio-only telehealth platforms to connect with their care provider - but their providers aren’t so sure.
While telehealth is not legally allowed in South Korea, the Ministry of Health and Welfare temporarily permitted its use due to hospital closures at the start of the pandemic.
Between February 24 and March 7, 2020, 6,840 patients used audio-based telehealth.
Researchers sent surveys to patients and providers alike to gauge their satisfaction with the telehealth platform, which includes landline telephones and online services without video. They asked questions about ease-of-use, interaction quality, reliability, satisfaction, and future use.
Around 87 % of patients reported that they were satisfied with their provider interaction and felt they could effectively express their feelings during an audio-only telehealth visit.
Most patients (87.1 %) also responded that their telehealth visit was just as reliable as an in-person visit would have been.
Meanwhile, the providers’ opinions differed drastically.
Less than 10 % of doctors and nurses were satisfied with their ability to interact with patients through an audio-only telehealth visit compared to in-person visits (7.3 % and 9 %, respectively).
Only 14 % of providers felt that the visits were as reliable as an in-person visit.
Patients and providers also had differing opinions on the convenience of telehealth.
Nearly 80 % of patients were satisfied with the convenience of telehealth and found it easy to use.
Providers were not as satisfied, with only 38.2 % of doctors and 30 percent of nurses reporting that they found telehealth convenient.
Overall, providers felt the negatives outweighed the positives for audio-only telehealth. While 85.8 % of the doctors and nurses agreed that telehealth is appropriate for emergency situations such as a pandemic, only 27.7 said it would be appropriate at all times.
In contrast, 40 % of the doctors and nurses surveyed said telehealth would be appropriate if it involved an audio-visual platform, saying it would be easier to fully examine and diagnose a patient’s condition.
read more at https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/audio-only-telehealth-has-its-fans-patients-and-its-critics-providers
The idea of being able to literally have a check-up has jumped to the forefront in terms of convenience. While some believe Audio-only is a level of impersonal (providers), most whom needed to use the service (patients) believed it was very effect in terms of being diagnosed. Practitioners of the medical arts feel that this innovative idea can be expanded for a more accurate interaction with patients by also integrating visual/video with this program. With the rapid expansion of tech, it may not be long before you only need to actually go to the hospital when in need of critical care. This would lead to hospitals being able to take in more patients that actually need to be there vs ones taking up space because of the "convenience" of being closer physically. The one drawback I foresee may be the fact of availability of your actual doctor, though it could be be supplemented by other professionals in the field.