Bhavneet Walia1, Anshu Shridhar2, Pratap Arasu2, Gursimar Kaur1. 1. Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, 430B Barclay, Syracuse, US. 2. Division of Cardiology, Syracuse Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Syracuse, US.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Given the sudden shift to telemedicine during the early COVID-19 pandemic, we conduct a survey of practicing-physician telehealth experience during pre-pandemic and early-pandemic periods. Our survey estimates that most U.S. patient-visits during the early COVID-19 pandemic period were conducted via telehealth. Given this magnitude and potential benefits/challenges of telehealth for U.S. healthcare, we obtain, summarize, and analyze telehealth views/experiences of U.S. practicing-physicians. OBJECTIVE: From the U.S. practicing-physician perspective, we examine extent of shift toward telehealth training and care provision during the early-pandemic. We seek to determine the shift's short- and long-term implications upon quality, access, and mode of U.S. healthcare delivery. METHODS: A purposive, snowball-sampled survey of 148 U.S. practicing-physicians. Data was collected from July 17, 2020 through September 4, 2020. RESULTS: Sample training intensity scaled 21-fold during the early-pandemic period; patient-care visits conducted via telehealth rose from 13.1%, on average, directly before pandemic to 59.7%, on average, during early-pandemic. Physicians feel that telehealth patient-visits and face-to-face patient-visits are comparable in quality; the difference is not statistically significant in a non-parametric sign test (P = 0.11). Physicians feel that telehealth care should continue to play a larger role (44.9% of visits) in U.S. healthcare post-pandemic. Survey findings suggest high market-concentration in telehealth softwares, a market-structural characteristic that may have implications upon cost and access. Results vary markedly by physician employer-type. CONCLUSIONS: During the shift toward telehealth, there has been considerable discovery among physicians regarding U.S. telehealth physicians. Physicians are now better-prepared to undertake telehealth care from a training perspective. They are favorable toward a permanently-expanded telehealth role, with potential for enhanced healthcare access; realization of enhanced access may depend upon market-structural characteristics of telehealth software platforms. Key Terms: physician survey, U.S. telehealth training, U.S. telehealth care, COVID-19 pandemic, snowball sampling, healthcare access, healthcare quality.
BACKGROUND: Given the sudden shift to telemedicine during the early COVID-19 pandemic, we conduct a survey of practicing-physician telehealth experience during pre-pandemic and early-pandemic periods. Our survey estimates that most U.S. patient-visits during the early COVID-19 pandemic period were conducted via telehealth. Given this magnitude and potential benefits/challenges of telehealth for U.S. healthcare, we obtain, summarize, and analyze telehealth views/experiences of U.S. practicing-physicians. OBJECTIVE: From the U.S. practicing-physician perspective, we examine extent of shift toward telehealth training and care provision during the early-pandemic. We seek to determine the shift's short- and long-term implications upon quality, access, and mode of U.S. healthcare delivery. METHODS: A purposive, snowball-sampled survey of 148 U.S. practicing-physicians. Data was collected from July 17, 2020 through September 4, 2020. RESULTS: Sample training intensity scaled 21-fold during the early-pandemic period; patient-care visits conducted via telehealth rose from 13.1%, on average, directly before pandemic to 59.7%, on average, during early-pandemic. Physicians feel that telehealth patient-visits and face-to-face patient-visits are comparable in quality; the difference is not statistically significant in a non-parametric sign test (P = 0.11). Physicians feel that telehealth care should continue to play a larger role (44.9% of visits) in U.S. healthcare post-pandemic. Survey findings suggest high market-concentration in telehealth softwares, a market-structural characteristic that may have implications upon cost and access. Results vary markedly by physician employer-type. CONCLUSIONS: During the shift toward telehealth, there has been considerable discovery among physicians regarding U.S. telehealth physicians. Physicians are now better-prepared to undertake telehealth care from a training perspective. They are favorable toward a permanently-expanded telehealth role, with potential for enhanced healthcare access; realization of enhanced access may depend upon market-structural characteristics of telehealth software platforms. Key Terms: physician survey, U.S. telehealth training, U.S. telehealth care, COVID-19 pandemic, snowball sampling, healthcare access, healthcare quality.