Patients' Perspective On Hepatology-Based Telehealth Visits

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased utilization of telehealth visits There is limited data on how patients with liver diseases perceive telehealth visits We aimed to study patient satisfaction and preferences for interactive telehealth visits among those who previously had an in-person hepatology clinic visit and had a telehealth hepatology visit for the first time during the pandemic Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of English-speaking patients aged 18 or older who had a first-time telehealth visit with a hepatologist from May 11 to June 15, 2020 at a tertiary academic center and had an in-person hepatology clinic visit within the prior year Patients chose phone or video visits Eligible patients deemed suitable for the study by their respective hepatologist were contacted to complete a multiple-choice survey online or by phone within one week after their virtual visit Study outcomes were patient satisfaction with telehealth, visit preferences, and barriers with telehealth Secondary analyses compared outcomes between those who had phone and video visits, and between those with and without decompensated cirrhosis Results: Of 104 eligible patients, 70 (67 3%) completed the survey Patient demographics and liver disease characteristics are shown in Table 1 Telehealth visits were conducted by phone for 37 (52 9%) and by video for 33 (47 1%) patients Respondents reported high overall satisfaction with telehealth (95 7%), high comfort communicating with hepatologists virtually (90 0%), and few had technical concerns (4 3%) Most felt telehealth visits were at least equivalent to in-person visits (72 9%) and were interested in future telehealth visits (64 3%) Factors for considering telehealth visits were personal preference (81 4%), time constraints (50 0%), and transportation (48 6%) When survey responses were compared between those with phone and video visits, and those with and without decompensated cirrhosis, there were no statistical differences in outcomes Conclusion: Patients who had a first-time telehealth visit with a hepatologist reported overall high satisfaction using telehealth and compared it favorably to traditional in-person hepatology clinics regardless of demographics, type and severity of liver disease, and type of virtual visit As we resume in-person hepatology clinics, the type of visit should be individualized based on patient preference and comfort with telehealth, when clinically appropriate