Patients report high satisfaction with telehealth

Return to eHealthNews.nz home page

Picture: NMDHB clinical IT lead Lisa Livingstone

eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Eighty percent of patients surveyed on their telehealth experience by Nelson Marlborough DHB said they would use telehealth again.
 
The number of telehealth appointments delivered by the DHB rose significantly during the national lockdown due to Covid-19, from an average of 445 per week in January to 2,080 per week in April 2020, the vast majority of which were by phone.

Numbers dropped again in August, when the region was under alert levels one and two, to an average of 319 per week.
 
The telehealth survey found an overall satisfaction rating of 4.05 (5 being very satisfied) with patients reporting that time and money saved on travel was the best part of the digital consultation. Also, personal interaction with a specialist when it was a video call.

Lisa Livingstone, registered nurse and clinical lead IT projects at Nelson Marlborough says some services, such as urology, have used telehealth consistently for a long time and the DHB was working on a more systematic approach to telehealth pre-Covid.

This involved pilots with rural partners such as Murchison where they would provide telehealth into health centres and this was being well received by patients and clinicians.

When Covid-19 hit, it “turned everything on its head” as telehealth became the only way to continue delivering care in many cases. 

The DHB has chosen Zoom as its platform of choice for clinical processes and is working with primary health organisations to get more consistency in telehealth platforms, as Livingstone says this can get confusing for patients who are interacting with several different services.

It is in the process of implementing Microsoft Teams for corporate use and is working with other South Island DHBs to get a unified process for this across the region. This work will be helped by the appointment of a telehealth facilitator by the South Island Alliance.

Livingstone says a unified regional approach is key to making the digital experience more seamless for patients and clinicians.

She facilitates an international group, with representatives from Australia, Canada, England and France, which meets quarterly to discuss what is happening internationally and what they can learn from each other.

While other areas may be more digitally mature and have the benefit of scale and major investment in some places, the actual numbers on the ground of telehealth appointments being delivered are comparable with New Zealand.

“We all have similar barriers such as clinician bias, digital literacy, data issues and the digital divide,” Livingstone explains.

While everyone in this space is keen to keep the momentum going after telehealth was given a major kickstart due to the pandemic, there has been a swing back to in-person appointments as lockdowns have eased locally and around the world.

Ultimately, the goal is a mixed model of telehealth and in-person appointments, giving patients choice, she says.

Hear more from Lisa Livingstone in our eHealthNews.nz Live Webinar, Telehealth – building a last service post-crisis, at midday on October 14. 

If you would like to provide feedback on this news story, please contact the editor Rebecca McBeth.

Read more news:

Waitematā delivers 10,000 telehealth appointments in a week
Te reo Māori mental health chatbot to reduce service barriers

Return to  eHealthNews.nz home page