(PS8-D80) Examination of Patient and Provider Satisfaction with Psychiatric Telehealth Treatment Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telehealth services for psychiatric care rapidly increased among healthcare providers.  Patients tend to report high levels of satisfaction with telehealth services; however, acceptability among providers is understudied. The objective of the current study was to examine satisfaction with, facilitators of, and barriers related to psychiatric telehealth outpatient and inpatient services among patients and providers in an urban hospital setting during the earlier months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:   Online anonymous surveys evaluated patient (n=65) and provider (n=39) satisfaction with telehealth services from October to December 2020 (during first surge of COVID-19 pandemic in NYC). Providers were psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatry residents/fellows and nurses/nurse practitioners; approximately 50% had not provided telehealth services pre-COVID-19. Provider surveys assessed familiarity with provision of telehealth in inpatient and outpatient settings as well as perceived patient satisfaction with telehealth services.  Qualitative data was examined in a thematic analysis to identify themes related to benefits and barriers to utilizing psychiatric telehealth services for both patients and providers.

Results: 39 providers (23% response rate; 38% psychologists, 31% psychiatrists, 18% psychiatry residents, 13% nurse/NP) completed the survey. Inpatient and outpatient providers reported high satisfaction with the quality of telehealth services (85% and 86% agree/strongly agree, respectively) and believed their patients were also satisfied with telehealth care (82% and 89% agree/strongly agree, respectively). Nurses/NPs believed that telehealth care integration was at least moderately beneficial to their inpatient work. Two prominent themes emerged from both the provider and patient qualitative data: 1) barriers to telehealth care, and 2) benefits of telehealth services.  Among the 65 patients (Mean age=44.2±16.9, 67% female), 23% reported technology-related barriers (e.g., app malfunction, connectivity issues, limited functionality of the platform). Among the 39 providers, 15% also had difficulty using telehealth for patient visits (e.g., app/video malfunctioning, connectivity issues, audio/internet quality issues).  Of patient responses related to benefits, 38% were related to the themes of convenience, accessibility, comfort, safety (general and COVID-19), privacy, and flexibility. The qualitative data portrays provider satisfaction (10%) with telehealth based on the convenience; only 8% reported preference for in-person over virtual visits. 

Conclusions: Approximately 7 months into the pandemic, providers and patients reported high levels of satisfaction with telehealth. These findings demonstrate the relative agreement among patients and providers of the benefit of telehealth services, especially in emergency situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth services are acceptable to patients and providers, allow for flexibility in implementation of and accessibility to evidence-based care and contribute to emergency preparedness.