Primary Care Clinician Perspectives on Team-Based Welcome Video Visits

Area of Science:

• Healthcare delivery innovation
• Primary care transformation
• Telehealth integration

Background:

• Synchronous virtual visits support longitudinal primary care and address patient and clinician needs.
• While virtual visits are common in specialty care, novel programs can enhance their use in primary care.
• Early engagement through systems-based virtual visit programs can improve access and satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate primary care clinician attitudes towards patient information gathered during team-based, nurse-led virtual visits.
• To assess the impact of pre-visit virtual information on subsequent face-to-face primary care encounters.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to primary care clinicians (physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants) in a large, regional group practice.
• The study evaluated the impact of readily available medical history, social history, and medication data from virtual visits.
• Virtual visits were part of the Patient Partnership Model, a network strategy utilizing technology for improved access and satisfaction.

Main Results:

• The weighted mean satisfaction score among participants was 3.61 on a 5-point Likert scale.
• Clinicians reported high satisfaction with the information exchange and the actionability of notes from virtual visits.
• Participants identified opportunities for improvement in medication reconciliation processes.

Conclusions:

• Team-based virtual visits were found to be satisfactory and acceptable by primary care clinicians.
• The integration of virtual visits within a broader network strategy shows potential for evolving roles in primary care.
• Further enhancements in medication reconciliation are suggested for optimizing virtual visit workflows.