Abstract: PO2354
Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Parents' Experience in a Pediatric Nephrology Clinic at the University of Florida
Session Information
- Pediatric Nephrology: Glomerular Disease and Transplantation
October 22, 2020 | Location: On-Demand
Abstract Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Category: Pediatric Nephrology
- 1700 Pediatric Nephrology
Authors
- Mannemuddhu, Sai Sudha, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
- Shoemaker, Lawrence R., University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
Background
In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric nephrology clinics at the University of Florida were switched to telemedicine. This transition occurred quickly without much education to either providers or families. There are some attempts to study the experience of providers, but there is no data regards to patients’ and parents’ experience with telemedicine.
Methods
We surveyed parents and patients (>18 years old) who had at least 1 telemedicine encounter via anonymous Qualtrics® survey sent to their email. Results were analyzed via qualitative analysis.
Results
Out of the 80 patents, 47.5% (38) completed the survey. 95% of the patients participated via Zoom and 5% used the telephone. 10.5% experienced technical issues. 100% reported that telemedicine had a positive impact on their family life.
In response to the quality of time spent with physicians, 84% reported that telemedicine was similar to the clinic, and 10.5% reported it was better. In terms of receiving virtual medical care, 50% reported that they were very comfortable, 50% reported that they were comfortable but preferred some interim clinic visits. 71% rated telemedicine experience 5, 25% rated 4, and 5% rated 3 out of 5.
Conclusion
We observed that parents perceived the effect of telemedicine clinics as positive in respect to ease in the incorporation, quality of time spent by the physician, receiving virtual medical care, and the impact on the families. Though telemedicine seems to be effective in the current setting, it can only be served as adjunctive to in-person clinic visits in the future, since 90% of families preferred a mixture of clinic and telemedicine visits in our setting. Larger studies are needed to further evaluate the utility and efficacy of telemedicine in a pediatric setting.