Abstract WP76: Patients Express Satisfaction With Acute Video Telestroke Consultations

Introduction: Video telestroke consultations are increasingly utilized to provide acute stroke care virtually, yet it remains uncertain whether patients are satisfied with this medium of care. We aimed to evaluate patient perception of their care during video telestroke consultations in a HUB and SPOKE telestroke network. Methods: Patients from Yale New Haven Health System and affiliate hospitals evaluated by video telestroke were screened for enrollment and contacted between 7-14 days from telestroke encounter to administer a telephone survey. Patients were excluded if the suspicion for cerebrovascular event was low, if primary language was not English, if in hospice, and if patient had confusion, cognitive impairment or aphasia during telestroke encounter or survey. The survey asked patients to rate the quality of the telestroke encounter and their satisfaction with various aspects of clinical care (Figure). Patient responses were evaluated using Chi-square analysis with SPSS v23. Results: A total of 325 video telestroke consultations occurred between May 8, 2021 and August 5, 2021. Eighty-nine patients met criteria to be contacted for a follow up survey. Of those, thirty-one patients responded to the survey (15 female, mean age of 58.9 years old) and 80.6% of patients did not have any prior telemedicine experiences. Only 6.7% of patients perceived shortcomings in the ability of the emergency staff to use videoconference equipment and 13.3% observed difficulties with audio quality. Difficulties with equipment and audio quality were not associated with patient’s ability to understand their diagnosis (p=0.787 and p=0.782) and treatment recommendations (p=0.558 and p=0.684). All patients expressed good or very good satisfaction with video telestroke use and perceived that the video consultation was as good as a bedside visit. Conclusions: Despite encountering some technical difficulties, patients expressed satisfaction with video telestroke encounters.