To evaluate patient satisfaction of telehealth neurology compared to in-person neurology consultations

The department of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center provides a teleneurology consult service to eleven community-based hospitals and an in-person consult service at Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital. We report here a review of patient satisfaction data, collected through quality improvement projects.

Patients receive satisfaction surveys via REDCap. They rate their interactions with the neurologist, the care provided, and whether they felt the care provided met their medical needs. Proportional odds models controlling for age, sex, and impression (stroke vs. no stroke) related patients’ satisfaction ratings to consultation modality (inpatient vs. telehealth).

Between January 2018 and August 2019, 534 patients seen via teleneurology received satisfaction surveys and 124 (23%) were completed. Ninety-eight percent of responders reported the neurologists treated them with courtesy and respect, listened carefully, and provided explanations that were easy to understand; 95% felt confident in the care provided; 93% were likely to recommend telehealth to others; and 91% reported the telehealth visit met their medical needs.

Between May and August 2019, 620 patients seen in-person by a neurologist received satisfaction surveys and 92 (15%) were completed. Ninety-four percent of responders reported the neurologists treated them with courtesy and respect and listened carefully,  89% felt the neurologists provided explanations that were easy to understand and reported they were likely to recommend Vanderbilt neurology to others, 87% felt confidence in the care provided by the neurologists, and 86% felt the in-person consult met their medical needs.

After FDR correction for multiple comparisons, there were no differences in patient satisfaction ratings between consultation modalities on any domain.

Patient satisfaction with VUMC neurology consultative care is very high regardless of whether the care is provided in-person or via telehealth.