Clinician Perception of Quality Linked to Telehealth Modality Use Rates

Telehealth utilization rates correspond with how clinicians perceive the effectiveness level, ease of use, and quality of virtual care services, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

As the use of telehealth sharply increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, many factors influenced provider preference for specific virtual care modalities.

To determine whether telehealth use rate corelated with clinician perceptions of telehealth, researchers conducted a study that included 866 participants, who worked in clinics that specialized in either mental health (MH), primary care (PC), or specialty care (SC).

The 866 clinicians participated in a 32-item survey conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs New England Healthcare (VANEHS) from August to September 2021.

There was a 64 percent survey response rate. Researchers divided responding clinicians into three groups: 403 MH providers, 153 PC providers, and 258 SC providers.

The survey indicated that MH respondents were more likely than their PC and SC counterparts to rate video care as having the highest quality, and they preferred this modality to the phone. Researchers also found that 46 PC and 59 SC clinicians had no preference between the two modalities, believing that using the phone for virtual visits was as effective as video.

The survey also found that 36 PC and 67 SC respondents preferred using the phone for remote care.

These results aligned with data on utilization rates within VANEHS, which shows that MH clinicians use video more frequently than PC and SC providers.

Based on the study results, researchers concluded that the opinions of clinicians regarding quality had an impact on utilization rates of various telehealth modalities.

“There is a need for additional data regarding the relative effectiveness of video and phone telehealth as well as improved processes to better integrate video telehealth into clinician workflows,” the study authors stated.

Various studies have examined trends in provider use of different telehealth methods.

For example, a study from November 2021 stated that safety-net providers used audio-only modalities of telehealth more frequently. This likely has a connection to the digital divide and the need for more advanced technology to conduct video visits. In an interview, providers stated that they preferred video rather than audio-only telehealth. They did, however, link audio-only telehealth to various benefits such as privacy and higher levels of intimacy.

Another report published in March stated that audio-only methods of telehealth were highly beneficial for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers claimed that this modality was standard for primary care and behavioral health services provided by FQHCs and that a high percentage of patients continued to use it during the entirety of the study period.