Article Figures & Data
Tables
Characteristic Value Age, mean (range), y 43 (23–94) Female, n (%) 9 (47) Hispanic, n (%) 1 (5) Race, n (%) Black 8 (42) White 9 (47) Other 2 (11) Location during visit, n (%) Home 13 (68) Office 6 (32) Insurance, n (%) HMO/PPO/Private 12 (63) Medicaid 1 (5) Medicare 3 (16) Medicare/Other 2 (11) Unknown 1 (5) Education, n (%) High school / GED / Some college 5 (26) College 6 (32) Postgraduate degree 8 (42) Employment status, n (%) Employed 13 (68) Retired 1 (5) Student 1 (5) Disabled 1 (5) Unemployed 3 (16) Household income (yearly), n (%) <$10,000 1 (5) $10,000–24,999 2 (11) $25,000–49,999 4 (21) $50,000–99,999 6 (32) $100,000 4 (21) Unknown 2 (11) Available technology, n (%) Computer with video camera 18 (95) Smartphone 14 (74) Tablet 12 (63) Devices used for past video calls, n (%) Computer with video camera 12 (63) Smartphone 14 (74) Tablet 6 (32) Reason for video visit, n (%) Chronic disease management 9 (47) Short-term follow-up of recent acute issue 7 (37) Review of lab results 2 (11) New acute issue 1 (5)
Additional Files
The Article in Brief
Patient Perceptions of Telehealth Primary Care Video Visits
Kristin L. Rising , and colleagues
Background Telehealth (or telemedicine) has the potential to increase the flexibility and reach of health services. This study describes patient experiences with video visits with their established primary care clinicians.
What This Study Found Video visits are being adopted in a variety of health care settings, including primary care, because they offer increased care accessibility, decreased transportation barriers and patient empowerment.This qualitative study of 19 adult patients interviewed after video visits with their primary care clinician found that patients accept and even prefer video visits to in-person office visits. Participants reported feeling comfortable talking with their clinicians over a video call, and they identified convenience and decreased costs as benefits. Some patients expressed a preference for receiving future serious news in a video visit citing reasons of comfort, social support and privacy. Primary concerns with video visits concerned privacy, including potential for work colleagues to overhear conversations, and questioning the ability of the clinician to perform an adequate physical examination.
Implications
- The authors conclude these findings add insight into the benefits of video visits in primary care, highlighting improved convenience, efficiency, privacy and comfort for patients. The findings also raise new considerations unique to telehealth that warrant discussion with patients before use, such as using headphones or finding a private room to maintain during video visits outside of the home.
Supplemental Appendix
Supplemental Appendix
Files in this Data Supplement:
- Supplemental Appendix - PDF file