Open AccessVanderbilt University Medical Center Ambulatory Teleneurology COVID-19 Experience
Author(s) -
Kelly Harper,
Mikayla Roof,
Nivan Wadhawan,
Ananya Terala,
Maxim Turchan,
Francesca Bagnato,
Raghu Upender,
Huong Pham,
Bryan Eoff,
David Charles
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
telemedicine and e-health
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1556-3669
pISSN - 1530-5627
DOI - 10.1089/tmj.2020.0382
Subject(s) - telehealth , medicine , covid-19 , ambulatory , pandemic , telemedicine , government (linguistics) , family medicine , medical emergency , nursing , health care , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , virology , outbreak , economics , economic growth
Background: Telehealth has proliferated since the 1950s, but adoption and coverage of telehealth services for the U.S. public have been slow. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the federal government has implemented temporary policy changes that removed barriers and catalyzed the unprecedented adoption of telehealth. Methods: To assess ambulatory teleneurology satisfaction, we analyzed postvisit questionnaire data from patients and clinicians who completed teleneurology visits during the COVID-19 pandemic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Neurology (VUMC). Results: From March 18 to May 8, 2020, VUMC completed 3,935 teleneurology visits. More than 97% of patients were very highly or highly confident in the telehealth care they received, whereas almost 99% of clinicians were very likely or somewhat likely to recommend telehealth to other clinicians. Conclusions: Teleneurology satisfaction at VUMC has been positive, and going forward, we must advance upon this unprecedented adoption of telehealth and never revert to former restrictive policies.