Practical Strategies for Addressing Video Visit Access Barriers in Urology.

Abstract

Since March 2020, telehealth has been a major part of health care delivery. Observational studies have shown that seniors, minorities, low-income Americans, and rural Americans have proportionally greater challenges in accessing telehealth compared with their counterparts. However, strategies to overcome these challenges have not been fully addressed. The objective of this study was to understand in greater detail the challenges patients face with video visits and introduce specific strategies to address these problems. We collected data on the technical barriers faced by patients through phone calls from a medical student-run volunteer program that assisted patients with telehealth visits through an electronic health record referral system. Our study identified 4 main issues faced by patients that prevent successful video visits: (1) completion of registration steps, (2) familiarity with accessing and using video conferencing software, (3) attainment of proxy access for parents of a pediatric patient, and (4) resolution of miscellaneous technical queries. We addressed these issues through a structured workflow algorithm, which provided patients with an opportunity to receive a live walk-through of the steps for registering for a video visit, practice with video conferencing software, and guidance to resources and answers to any issues in the process. This study provides practical guidance for overcoming the challenges that patients face with video visits. These strategies can be used in any urology practice to improve video visit adoption and telehealth access in patient populations where challenges may exist.