Initial Experience with Telemedicine at a Single Institution.

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Telemedicine
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Video visits are increasingly recognized for their efficacy and patient satisfaction compared to in-person consultations.
• Evaluating patient satisfaction with telemedicine across different urological diagnoses is crucial for optimizing remote care.
• Understanding the impact of patient demographics, such as age and travel distance, on satisfaction with virtual visits is important.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess patient satisfaction with video visits in urology, stratified by diagnosis.
• To determine if specific urological conditions are better suited for remote management.
• To investigate the influence of patient age and clinic distance on satisfaction with telemedicine.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 611 urology telemedicine encounters.
• Patient satisfaction assessed using Likert scales for provider and platform.
• Statistical analysis included Spearman's correlation for age/distance and ANOVA for diagnostic differences.

Main Results:

• 47.2% of patients completed the survey; mean age 54.4 years, mean distance 44.6 miles.
• High mean satisfaction scores for both patient-provider (4.94/5) and system (4.63/5).
• No significant difference in satisfaction based on diagnosis; negative correlation between age and system satisfaction (p=0.025).

Conclusions:

• Video visits demonstrate high patient satisfaction across diverse urological diagnoses and patient distances.
• Provider satisfaction remains high regardless of diagnosis.
• Patient satisfaction with the telemedicine system can be variable and may be influenced by factors like age.