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BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted healthcare guidelines and modalities of patient consultation worldwide. The frequent cycles of quarantine confinement in Chile have caused mobility restrictions for patients and physicians, forcing the Hospital Las Higueras de Talcahuano (HHT) to replace the assisted televisit modality with a more classic televisit program. Here we have described if this change in televisit modality and type of outpatient may have impacted patients' satisfaction. METHODS: The patient's perception of satisfaction was evaluated through self-administered survey questionnaires previously validated in Spanish. Cohorts were grouped according to the following two relational models: (i) assisted televisit, 503 neurology patients from 2018 to 2019, and (ii) televisit, 831 patients from different specialties treated during 2020. Perception of satisfaction was compared by gender, age, and type of televisit, and internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and reliability (factorial analysis of principal components) were assessed. Finally, we compared the patient satisfaction of both modalities. RESULTS: Questionnaires showed excellent internal consistency; all items showed point biserial correlations greater than 0.30. Assisted televisit and televisit cohorts comprised 64.2% and 67.6% females, respectively, and patients under the age of 65 years were 62.2% and 75%, respectively. Assisted televisit patients showed very high 94.4% (n=475) and high 5.2% (n=26) satisfaction levels, while televisit patients showed very high 22.3% (n=185), high 63.9% (n=531), and moderate 13.1% (n=109) satisfaction levels; this difference was statistically significant at p<0.001. CONCLUSION: Lower perception of satisfaction due to the change in televisit relational modality underscores the importance of primary care professionals who support the specialist in the assisted televisit model. However, the televisit modality showed high patient satisfaction and suggested that this modality can be a plausible alternative according to each location's reality. The results of this study indicate that both assisted televisit and televisit contribute to delivering an integrative solution that helps to alleviate the system's fragmentation.
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Background: The quality assessment of the home-based isolation and care program (HBIC) relies heavily on patient satisfaction and length of stay. COVID-19 patients who were isolated and received HBIC were monitored through telephone consultations (TC), in-person TC visits, and a self-reporting application. By evaluating patient satisfaction and length of stay in HBIC, healthcare providers could gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of the HBIC program. Methods: A cross-sectional study design enrolled 444 HBIC patients who answered a structured questionnaire. A binary logistic regression model assessed the association between independent variables and patient satisfaction. The length of stay in HBIC was analyzed using Cox regression analysis. The data collection started on April (1-30), 2022, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Results: The median age was 34, and 247 (55.6%) were females. A greater proportion (313, 70.5%) of the participants had high satisfaction. Higher frequency of calls (>3 calls) (AOR = 2.827, 95% CI = 1.798, 4.443, p = 0.000) and those who were symptomatic (AOR = 2.001, 95% CI = 1.289, 3.106, p = 0.002) were found to be significant factors for high user satisfaction. Higher frequency of calls (>3 calls) (AHR = 0.537, 95% CI = 0.415, 0.696, p = 0.000) and more in-person visits (>1 visit) (AHR = 0.495, 95% CI = 0.322, 0.762, p = 0.001) had greater chances to reduce the length of stay in the COVID-19 HBIC. Conclusion: 70.5% of the participants had high satisfaction with the system, and frequent phone call follow-ups on patients' clinical status can significantly improve their satisfaction and length of recovery. An in-person visit is also an invaluable factor in a patient's recovery.