Acceptance of Telemedicine by Kidney Transplant Recipients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey Study of Patient Experiences

COVID-19 has motivated unprecedented changes to telemedicine including kidney transplant patient care.Telemedicine with this population is not well described.We assessed the comfort and experience of post-kidney transplant patients with telemedicine versus an in-person visit using a 16-question survey between March and June 2020.Patients completed the survey via email or telephone.Participants graded their experience using a 5-point assessment (1=most positive; 5=least desirable).197 out of 381 telemedicine patients responded.Survey questions were consolidated into 7 groups.Living (1.38) vs deceased donor (1.56, P=0.018) recipients, less than 6 months post-transplant (1.33) vs 1.52 for 6-12 months, 1.56 for >12 months, P=0.033); non-African Americans (AA) (1.36) vs AA (1.60, P=0.002) responded more favorably to ease of scheduling and entering the portal.Non-AA (1.26) vs AA (1.40, P=0.034) rated patient/provider interaction higher.Patients age 50 or less (1.33), 65 and over (1.49) found better quality of the Internet connection with a provider than 51-64 (1.73, P=0.005).Patients < 50 (1.35)and women (1.39) found telemedicine simpler to use than 51-64 (1.66) and over 65 (1.58,P=0.045) and men (1.62, P=0.035), respectively.Patients who lived greater versus less than 50 miles from our center: telemedicine is the same as in person visit (1.99 vs 2.38, P=0.009); an acceptable alternative (1.43 vs 1.74, P=0.009); enjoyed their experience and comfort substituting telemedicine for an in-person provider in the future (2.10 vs 1.76, P=0.03).Post-kidney transplant patients responded favorably to telemedicine.Some patient demographics influenced survey responses.These results suggest telemedicine can substitute for an in-person visit.