NEW: VUMC patients overwhelmingly report positive experiences from telehealth services

by Jill Clendening

Many patients and clinicians were unfamiliar with the idea of completing a medical appointment remotely when COVID-19 social distancing requirements resulted in Vanderbilt Health rapidly transitioning appointments to telehealth. However, clinicians quickly adapted, and patients overwhelmingly report positive experiences with the new approach.

“Some optimistic news that has come out of this situation is that once our patients tried a telehealth visit, which allowed them to remain safe at home but still receive the high-quality care they deserve, they realized the value of these encounters,” said Brian Carlson, vice president of VUMC Patient Experience. “As we celebrate Patient Experience Week, April 27-May 1, we applaud everyone involved with these appointments – from the schedulers to those who help patients with technology questions as they prepare for telehealth visits to the clinical staff that provide stellar care to our patients no matter how many miles are in between. Our institution faced a formidable challenge and you all delivered outstanding service without missing a beat.”

When in-person visits were converted to telehealth appointments, Press Ganey patient experience surveys were sent to patients following appointments, Carlson said. Survey results were quickly analyzed for this new appointment category and what was seen from the surveys is that telehealth appointments overall have rated even higher than in-person appointments.

Telehealth survey results since mid-March:

· 1,872 surveys were received for telehealth visits

· Comparing Vanderbilt Health against Press Ganey’s peer group of 1,228 other facilities, we are in the 99th percentile for the overall roll up of all the questions on the survey.

· 91.4% marked “very good” on likelihood to recommend (98th percentile)

· 92.6% marked “very good” on how well staff protected their safety (99th percentile)

· 90.5% marked “very good” on our concern for patient privacy (99th percentile)