Research Article
Karen A Cock
Abstract
Aim: To determine if a virtual (telephone) two week wait (2 ww) clinic affects patient satisfaction and delivers a comparable service to a traditional face to face assessment. Study design: Part one is a case cohort comparative study of 100 consecutive patients (divided by referral criteria into virtual (n=50) and face to face (n=50) cohorts). Patient satisfaction in both cohorts was assessed by an adapted version of the Grogan et al. validated patient satisfaction questionnaire. The questionnaire was piloted first and was found to have high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.945). Part two is a three month data capture to compare specific quality indicators, such as, number of referrals for additional investigations or further clinic episodes between the two cohorts (virtual n=251 and face to face n=403). Results: Overall satisfaction scores showed; 90% of patients in the virtual cohort and 98% of patients in the face to face cohort, strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the care they received. Mean satisfaction scores in the two cohorts revealed that the virtual cohort achieved less strongly agrees than the face to face cohort but this was not significant (p=0.5). Further analysis of the responses to each question demonstrated no statistical significance when comparing the two cohorts. Analysis of the three month data collection revealed no significant difference between the two groups and referrals for additional investigations (virtual 10%, n=25. Face to face 9.4% n=38) However, the face to face group yielded a higher number of further clinic episodes (virtual 1%, n=1. Face to face 3%, n=16) and colorectal cancer diagnoses (virtual 4%, n=10. Face to face 10%, n=40). Conclusions: The study offered patients the opportunity to reflect on service delivery enabling a more responsive approach to healthcare within the colorectal 2 ww service. It provides strong evidence that virtual 2 ww clinics provide an assessment method that is essentially, as acceptable as traditional face to face clinics.