Massachusetts General Hospital: Virtual video visits may improve patient convenience without sacrificing quality of care, communication
A team of researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital reports in The American Journal of Managed Care that virtual video visits, one form of telehealth visit used at the hospital, can successfully replace office visits for many patients without compromising the quality of care and communication.
Media contact: Terri Ogan Janos,
For immediate release: January 14, 2019
BOSTON — A team of researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reports in the American Journal of Managed Care that virtual video visits, one form of telehealth visit used at the hospital, can successfully replace office visits for many patients without compromising the quality of care and communication. Virtual video visits are personal video chat communications between a health professional and patient using a computer or tablet via a secure application.
Karen Donelan, ScD, a senior scientist at the MGH-based
The
Among the key findings of the study:
- 79 percent of responding patients who participated in the program felt that finding a convenient time for a follow-up virtual video visit was easier than for a traditional office visit.
- 62 percent of responding patients reported the quality of virtual video visits was no different from that of office visits, and 21 percent thought virtual visits’ overall quality was better.
- 59 percent of health professionals providing virtual video visits agreed that, for the patients selected for these visits, virtual visit quality was similar to that of office visits; one third thought office visit quality was better.
- Patients and health professionals differed on their perceptions of the “personal connection” they felt in these visits: 46 percent of clinicians said they thought office visits were better, compared to 33 percent of patients.
- 68 percent of patients rated virtual video visits at 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale, and patients who rated the visits lower were generally concerned about technical issues they experienced during their first use of the system. Those issues were usually resolved at the time of the visits with technical assistance
- Clinicians reported that virtual video visits are superior to office visits for timely scheduling of patient appointments (70.5 percent) and for visit efficiency (52.5 percent). They did caution that these visits are not appropriate for all patients in all situations.
The authors note that their study may have important lessons for a future in which several different modes — such as text, video, online, home and office visits – are available for patient-clinician communication. While 89 percent of patients with virtual video visits said their clinical issues could have been addressed in traditional office visits, 60 percent indicated that telephone calls, 31 percent indicated secure email and 20 percent responded that text messaging might also have been options. As these other modes of care are explored and studied, researchers will be assessing how best to tailor these visits to the needs of patients.
Lee Schwamm, MD, director of the MGH Center for TeleHealth and of the
Schwamm is a professor of Neurology, and Donelan is an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The co-authors of the American Journal of Managed Care paper are Esteban A. Barreto, MA, and Carie Michael, SM, Mongan Institute; Juan Estrada, MSc, MBA, MGH Neurology; Janet Wozniak, MD, MGH Psychiatry; Adam Cohen MD, Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital; and Sarah Sossong, MPH, Flare Capital Partners.
Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The
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