Authors (including presenting author) :
Man SY(1), Chang KYS(2), Lam NS(3)
Affiliation :
Dietetic Department, (1)Kwong Wah Hospital, (2)Queen Elizabeth Hospital, (3) Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital
Introduction :
Tele-care service has been adopted by Allied Health departments of Hospital Authority to maintain continuation of care for indicated patients during COVID-19 epidemic. Since February 2020, Dietetic Departments of Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC) have provided nutrition follow-up consultations for out-patients and/or their carers over telephone with supplementary information delivered via other platforms such as WhatsApp. Patient satisfaction is a key indicator for evaluating whether the tele-care modality meets patients’ expectations.
Objectives :
To evaluate patients’ experience of dietetic tele-care service and to explore the future direction of incorporating tele-care into routine dietetic service
Methodology :
Patients received dietetic tele-care service between February and September 2020 and returned for in-person follow-up between September and October 2020 at Dietetic Out-patient Departments of KCC were recruited for a self-administered survey. The survey comprised nine questions including one open question for comment. Patients ranked their satisfaction with tele-care service in terms of duration, therapeutic effect, technical quality, service arrangement and overall quality with Likert scale. They also indicated their preference and willingness-to-pay for dietetic tele-care service in future.
Result & Outcome :
Seventy-seven patients returned the survey and 83% of them were satisfied with the overall quality of dietetic tele-care service. Almost 70% patients agreed that tele-care was comparable to face-to-face consultation and a high proportion was observed among patients who required nutrition support (71%) and weight reduction (75%). On the contrary, only 44% patients who needed renal management agreed tele-care was equivalent to traditional service.
Patients were positive with dietetic tele-care service as 81% would like to receive the service in future. In terms of paid tele-care service, patients who required nutrition support (59%), weight reduction (75%) and renal care (75%) indicated better acceptance.
Results suggested that majority of patients were satisfied with dietetic tele-care service and agreed that tele-care was comparable to face-to-face consultation. This modality also gained high acceptance for continuation of nutrition care among most patients. Paid tele-care service might be possible in future for patients who needed nutrition support and weight reduction. For patients who had complicated conditions and required advance nutrition education (such as renal management), it might be necessary to adjust the tele-care service to meet their expectations.
