![]() ![]() Video visits had slightly higher medication prescribing (any medication: 37.4% video vs. The study also compared medical actions taken during video and phone visits. “The telephone visit can provide an accessible option to address patient primary care needs for people who may not have technology or knowledge of video without raising safety concerns,” Huang said. Lead author Jie Huang, PhD, Division of Research data scientist, said the results support the utility of a simple phone call. In-person office visits were available based on a doctor’s recommendation after a virtual visit.ĭespite the attention paid to the pandemic era growth of patients and doctors meeting by video, this analysis of care at the height of pandemic restrictions actually found a substantial amount of care was provided by telephone – 58.4% of telehealth visits. The researchers examined 734,442 patient-initiated primary care telehealth visits between March 16 and October 31, 2020, the initial COVID-19 pandemic period when the majority of medical visits being scheduled online by KPNC members were virtual. Though further research is needed, the study shows that video visits are both effective and efficient.“This is a reassuring message that both types of telemedicine look like they are meeting patients’ needs well enough that patients are not often returning to the clinic or emergency room or worse, being hospitalized,” said senior author Mary Reed, DrPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “Physicians who do a lot of video visits also find them beneficial. “We’re finding that patients find video visits very satisfying,” Dr. ![]() About 66 percent of scheduled video visits were successfully completed however, patients and clinicians who weren’t able to communicate by video were almost always able to complete the visit another way.Sixty percent of TPMG clinicians and less than 5 percent of patients used video visits.The average length of the typical video visit was about 8 minutes.Patients used smart phones for 74 percent of the video visits, while 20 percent used a computer and 6 percent used a tablet.Ninety-three percent of patients who scheduled video visits said their health care needs were met.Parikh and Wargon are leaders in The Permanente Medical Group’s (TPMG) Technology Group. “Clinicians can see the patient and how they are feeling, but there’s nothing physical that they need to examine.” Drs. “They are also working quite well in behavioral health,” added co-author and Kaiser Permanente podiatric surgeon Craig Wargon, DPM. “Pediatrics are a nice place for video to work because parents have a hard time getting their kids to the doctor,” said co-author and Kaiser Permanente pediatrician Rahul Parikh, MD. Three-quarters of those video visits were in primary care (internal and adult family medicine), pediatrics, dermatology, after-hours care, and psychiatry. Video visits accounted for a small proportion of interactions during the study period - less than 1 percent. Kaiser Permanente employs a number of different methods for interacting with patients via telemedicine, including phone, secure email message, and video. “We think this is the largest analysis of video visits in an integrated health care setting.” Who is Using Video Visits? “The evidence on integrating video visits into ongoing clinical care is limited,” Reed said. At the time of the study, Kaiser Permanente did not charge any copayments or deductibles for video visits. The Division of Research study looked at more than 200,000 video visits conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2017 in Northern California and included an online survey of nearly 1,300 Kaiser Permanente members who chose to schedule a video visit with their physician. Members can now self-schedule video appointments online at kp.org and communicate face-to-face with physicians on a mobile phone, computer or tablet. Kaiser Permanente Northern California began offering video visits across the region in 2011, and they became widely available in mid-2014. “One of the strengths of this option is that you can maintain a stronger relationship with your own doctor through video.” “Many patients reported that the video visit actually improved the relationship with their clinician,” said lead author Mary Reed, DrPH, research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. Kaiser Permanente members who chose video appointments were overwhelmingly satisfied with this way to see their doctor, according to research published in October in the New England Journal of Medicine. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |