What Are the 10 Factors to Patient Satisfaction With Telehealth?

One of the challenges of creating a sustainable telehealth platform is figuring out what to measure and how to measure it.

While clinical outcomes and changes to provider workflows are on the top of that last, a benchmark often overlooked by new users is patient satisfaction. If the patient isn’t happy with the experience, or his or her concerns aren’t addressed properly, there won’t be a second chance.

In its second annual Telehealth Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power maps out 10 key performance indicators (KPIs) that every provider should take into consideration when using connected health technology. According to the consumer advisory company, the top five KPIs are in use now by at least 69 percent of survey respondents, making them critical to assuring patient satisfaction.

They are:

1. Spent enough time to provide quality care;
2. Completely resolved medical concern(s) on visit;
3. Followed up after visit;
4. Online: Question/problem resolved on first contact; and
5. Phone: Question/problem resolved on first contact.

The list places outcomes over convenience or ease of use, indicating patients are most concerned with having their issues resolved – though they would like that done as quickly as possible, preferably in one encounter. And if that issue isn’t resolved after one visit, they’d better be placed on the appropriate care path in follow-up visits.

The second five KPIs, according to J.D. Power, are used by fewer than two-thirds of survey respondents, an indication that they’re not been followed as closely as they should be. They are:

6. Consultation: Treated me with courtesy and respect;
7. Consultation: Listened carefully;
8. Consultation: Explained things clearly;
9. Consultation: Cost-effective for the service I received; and
10. Consultation: Gave easy-to-understand information on health questions or concerns.

These answers point toward a focus on the quality of the experience, and indicate providers may be slacking off on these measures, perhaps because they’re not yet comfortable with a virtual visit or they’re paying more attention to processes or outcomes.

The survey tells providers that how they conduct themselves during a telehealth visit is as important to the patient’s experience as the outcome of that visit.

“The best practices that are delivered the most infrequently are providing easy-to-understand information on health questions/concerns and providing cost-effective services during the consultation process,” J.D. Power pointed out in an executive summary of the survey. “Telehealth providers should focus on delivering these best practices to more users to increase satisfaction and, thereby, increase loyalty and advocacy.”