Impact of Telehealth Technology Use in Older Adults
Older adults easily accept telehealth technology, but have concerns over quality of care
Older adults are willing to use technology for telehealth but have expectations which differ from in-person visits
Summary
Older adults have well acceptance of technology for telehealth visits.
91% report ease of technology use.
Clinical impact of home telehealth programs require validation as patients perceive lower quality due to lack of physical examinations.
Background
COVID-19 pandemic has produced a dramatic shift from office to virtual outpatient visits. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted older adults. Patients less than 65 years old account for 26.4% of COVID-19 deaths, Patients 65 years or older comprise 73.6% of all deaths. The above factors were evaluated by the University of Michigan with a survey of telehealth experiences of U.S. adults aged 50-80 years old.
Review
The initial survey was conducted pre-pandemic in May 2019. The survey was repeated again in June 2020 during the pandemic. These 2 data points allow us to assess the change over an unconventional disruptive one-year period. By the nature of the survey use of telehealth visits on quality of care could not be addressed. Rather, the survey focused on acceptance of the technology.
Overall, older adults report improved impact and acceptance of telehealth technology over the one-year period.
The majority of older adult patients perceived office visits provided higher quality of care. This perception was maintained during the pandemic.
The perception of higher office visit quality of care is mostly due to lack of the ability to perform a physical examination virtually.
Patients are expressing virtual visits have different requirements than office visits.
High quality virtual visits will require improved technology etiquette by clinicians:
Building virtual interpersonal relationship with patient (rapport)
Convey empathy
Conclusions
Virtual telehealth visits in older adults is a well-accepted modality.
Due to the disruptive nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2 survey points separated by one-year should not be interpreted as a natural trend, nor as a new steady state of telehealth use.
Validation of clinical outcomes and the impact of a lack of physical contact is warranted
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