Patient Satisfaction with In-Person, Video, and Telephone Allergy/Immunology Evaluations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mustafa, S. Shahzad; Vadamalai, Karthik; Ramsey, Allison

Background The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic necessitated a rapid transition from in-person evaluations to remote delivery of care, including both video and telephone visits, in allergy/immunology practices. Objective To evaluate patient satisfaction, patient and physician impression of encounter completeness, and reimbursement between in-person, video, and telephone encounters. This study also assessed factors influencing patient satisfaction, perception of completeness, and choice of future evaluation type. Methods This was a prospective study of all encounters at a healthcare-system owned practice. Encounter type, encounter modality, patient demographics, primary diagnoses, reimbursement data, and physician assessment of encounter completeness were tracked. Patient satisfaction was assessed via standardized questions. Results There were 447 encounters, with 303 (67.8%) in-person, 98 (21.9%) video, and 46 (10.3%) telephone. Patient satisfaction data was obtained from 251 patients. There was similar patient satisfaction among all encounter modalities. Both patients and physicians were more likely to deem an in-person encounter as complete. Physicians were more likely to report an in-person encounter to be complete for food allergy (p<0.001) and chronic rhinitis (p=0.001) as compared to video or telephone, whereas patients reported in-person encounters for food allergy to be complete as compared to other modalities (p=0.002). Patients reported that future encounter types should depend on the clinical situation. Conclusions There was similar patient satisfaction with in-person, video, and telephone encounters in an allergy/immunology practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronic rhinitis and food allergy are more likely to call for an in-person evaluation. New patient visits are likely to be the most high-yield to focus on for in-person evaluations.