Patient acceptance and satisfaction with Telehealth clinical consultation after an orthotic prescription: A cross-sectional questionnaire study.

Abstract

Background: Telehealth was more widely utilized in various medical field over the world since the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be an option to meet the growing health service demand. Objectives: This study aims to identify patient's expectation and satisfaction in Telehealth as an alternative follow-up format.

Study design: Fifty patients presenting Hospital Department of Prosthetics and Orthotics were recruited to complete a questionnaire. Methods: The questionnaire evaluated subject's expectation and satisfaction towards Telehealth in 5-point scale with result analysed with Fisher Exact test.

Results: Statistical analysis revealed that: (1) shorter travel time and waiting time greatly encouraged subject to attend Telehealth; (2) body part exposure to camera, risk of diagnosis error, network and technological issue; (3) No significant satisfaction difference between Telehealth and traditional face-to-face follow-up subjects.

Conclusions: This is the first study in Hong Kong to evaluate patient's feedback to Telehealth service in orthotic treatment. The findings could speed up the implementation of Telehealth into P&O treatment and improve the overall service quality.