Cardiology patients showed a positive attitude toward telemedicine, with 89.6% valuing personalized health tips and 84.8% motivated by physician recommendation, though only 67.1% would pay for it.
Cross-Sectional (n=231)
What are the attitudes, preferred features, and willingness to pay for telemedicine among cardiology patients?
Cardiology patients generally hold positive attitudes toward telemedicine, particularly when it offers personalized care and is recommended by their physician, though expectations remain that it should be reimbursed.
Introduction: Many patients with cardiovascular diseases are only seen by a physician once or twice a year unless urgent symptoms. Recent years have shown an increase in digital technologies to follow patients remotely, that is, telemedicine. Telemedicine can be supportive for follow-up of patients at continuous risk. This study investigated patients' attitude toward telemedicine, the defined features they consider important and future willingness to pay. Methods: Cardiology patients with various types of prior telemedicine follow-up or who never had a telemonitoring follow-up were included. A new self-developed survey was implemented electronically and took 5-10 min to complete. Results: In total, 231 patients (191 telemedicine T and 40 controls C), were included. Most participants owned a smartphone (84.8%) and only 2.2% of the total participants did not own any digital device. The most important feature of telemedicine cited in both groups was personalization (i.e., personalized health tips based on medical history, 89.6%; personalized feedback on entered health parameters 86.1%). The most important motivating factor for the use of telemedicine is recommendation by a physician (84.8%), while the reduction of in-person visits is a minor reason (24.7%). Only half of the participants (67.1%) would be willing to pay for telemedicine tools in the future. Conclusion: Patients with cardiovascular disease have a positive attitude to telemedicine, especially when it allows for more personalized care, and when it is advocated by the physician. Participants expect that telemedicine becomes part of reimbursed care. This calls for interactive tools with proven efficacy and safety, while guarding unequal access to care.
Knaepen et al. (Sun,) conducted a cross-sectional in Cardiovascular disease (n=231). Telemedicine vs. No prior telemedicine follow-up was evaluated on Attitude toward telemedicine, important features, and willingness to pay. Cardiology patients showed a positive attitude toward telemedicine, with 89.6% valuing personalized health tips and 84.8% motivated by physician recommendation, though only 67.1% would pay for it.