Patient satisfaction and cost analysis of telehealth delivered by allied health oncology clinicians

Introduction
To compare and analyse satisfaction and costs of telehealth services for patients receiving allied health services at a quaternary oncology hospital.

Material and methods
Cross-sectional design survey distributed to patients who had received outpatient allied health (psych-oncology, dietetics, speech pathology) telehealth services from March November 2020. Responses regarding satisfaction and barriers relating to telehealth were examined, and costs calculated.

Results
A total of 156 surveys were distributed, 124 were completed and included in the analysis. The majority of respondents (56%) were female patients, with a median age of 57 years. Survey results revealed that 89% of respondents would access allied health consultations using telehealth again, of whom 14.5% indicated that they preferred telehealth to a face-to-face appointment. Common barriers to service delivery were internet connection, inability to perform physical examination via telehealth, and patient unfamiliarity with technology. Levels of satisfaction were high, with 92.7% of respondents either satisfied or very satisfied with the allied health telehealth service offered. Only 1.5% of the participants were dissatisfied on account of unfamiliarity with the technology and preference for face-to-face contact with their clinician. To attend a face-to-face allied health consultation 90% of respondents would have to drive to the hospital, with cost of petrol and parking per trip calculated to be an average of $ 51.25.

Conclusions
Allied health service delivered via telehealth was met with high rates of satisfaction and resulted in lower patient costs.