Consumer satisfaction with telehealth advice-nursing

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Consumer Health Services

Background:

• Increased use of telephone advice services and call centers necessitates research into care quality and consumer satisfaction.
• Existing research has largely overlooked the relationship between quality of care and consumer outcomes in telephone advice services.
• The nursing process (assessment, care planning, intervention, evaluation) provides a framework for evaluating telephone nursing care quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine consumer satisfaction and follow-up with recommendations within the nursing process framework for telephone advice services.
• To rate the quality of nursing care provided by advice nurses in call centers.
• To identify relationships between components of the nursing process and consumer satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• Data collected from 157 audiotaped calls to seven after-hours call centers from health plans and insurance companies.
• Calls from adult patients with medical-surgical problems were analyzed using a structured implicit review by registered nurses.
• Consumer follow-up calls assessed satisfaction, helpfulness, and adherence to recommendations.

Main Results:

• Nursing intervention quality was rated highest, followed by evaluation; assessment was the lowest component of the nursing process.
• Consumer satisfaction was high: 95.4% were satisfied, and 93.2% found the advice helpful.
• Intervention quality was significantly associated with consumer satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Telephone advice services demonstrate high consumer satisfaction, with nursing intervention quality being a significant driver.
• The study establishes a method for rating advice nurse interactions and provides a foundation for future research.
• Further investigation into predictors of consumer satisfaction and cost-benefit analyses is recommended.