Open AccessPatient and Provider Perspectives on Pediatric Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Sophie E Katz,
Preston Spencer,
Christine Stroebel,
Lora Harnack,
Jason Kastner,
Ritu Banerjee
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
telemedicine reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2692-4366
DOI - 10.1089/tmr.2021.0032
Subject(s) - telemedicine , pandemic , covid-19 , medicine , guardian , telehealth , medical emergency , family medicine , health care , disease , pathology , virology , outbreak , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , economics , economic growth
The COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid expansion of telemedicine services. We surveyed parent/guardians from March 10 to June 29, 2020, in an academic and community pediatric practice, and community pediatric providers from June 5 to July 13, 2020, to better understand their perceptions of telemedicine and compare parent/guardian satisfaction between in-person and telemedicine encounters. Overall patient satisfaction scores were high in both settings and did not differ between in-person and telemedicine visits (community setting: 93.36 ± 12.87 in-person vs. 88.04 ± 22.04 telemedicine; academic setting: 92.25 ± 11.2 vs. 95.37 ± 8.21). Most providers (82.5%) would be willing to use telemedicine in a nonpandemic situation. Telemedicine should remain available for primary care pediatrics during and after resolution of the pandemic.