Are patients willing to engage in telemedicine for their care: A survey of preuse perceptions and acceptance of remote video visits in a urological patient population

Objective To examine patient preuse acceptance and perceptions of video visit (VV) technology within an ambulatory urology setting. Methods Patients treated by a single urology department from January to June 2013 were identified. A Web-based survey was conducted evaluating patient demographics, preuse perceptions, and acceptance of VV. Results In total, 1378 patients (25%) completed the survey; of which 868 (63%) were willing to participate in VV for their urologic care. Compared with patients "unlikely," those "likely" to participate in VV were younger (62 vs 65 years), had a college education (77% vs 65%), had previous exposure to videoconference technology (57% vs 38%), were more comfortable discussing new symptoms (56% vs 30%) and sensitive information (48% vs 27%), and played an active role in their healthcare (65% vs 54%). Moreover, patients willing to participate in VV traveled larger distances (>90 minutes; 69% vs 58%), missed more work (>1 day; 39% vs 29%), and incurred greater expenses for their care (>$250; 52% vs 25%) relative to those who were unlikely. After controlling for associated patient characteristics, a high level of agreement among urology-specific questions remained independently associated with greater likelihood of VV acceptance among both male and female patients. Conclusion A large proportion of patients are willing to participate in VV for their urologic care. This may have significant implications by reducing costs and increasing access to, and quality of, health care services. These findings may assist urologists in strategically directing future efforts to reach diverse patient populations via VV technology.