Khairat Saif, Lin Xi, Liu Songzi, Man Zhaohui, Zaman Tanzila, Edson Barbara, Gianforcaro Robert
Carolina Health Informatics Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
J Patient Exp. 2021 Jan 12;8:2374373520981487. doi: 10.1177/2374373520981487. eCollection 2021.
Urgent care (UC) is one of the fastest growing venues of health care delivery for nonemergent conditions. This study compared the patient experience during virtual and in-person urgent care visits. We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients with the same diagnosis during Virtual Urgent Care (VUC) and in-person UC visits with the same diagnosis with regard to time and cost over a period of one year. We recorded and analyzed 16 685 urgent care visits: In-person UC (n = 14 734), VUC (n = 1262). Significant differences were found in the average total time for a visit in an in-person UC (70.89 minutes), and VUC (9.38 minutes). The average total cost of VUC ($49) and in-person UC ($142.657) differed significantly. Significant difference was found between UC turnaround time and VC turnaround time (Dependent variable (DV): 53.77, < .01). We found significant differences in cost and time between in favor of virtual visits. Our findings suggest additional policy reform to expand the use of virtual care among target populations to improve access, reduce costs, meet the needs of patients, and reduce emergency department visits.
紧急护理（UC）是针对非紧急情况的医疗服务中发展最快的场所之一。本研究比较了虚拟紧急护理和面对面紧急护理就诊期间的患者体验。我们对在一年时间内因相同诊断进行虚拟紧急护理（VUC）和面对面紧急护理就诊的患者进行了一项横断面研究，涉及时间和成本方面。我们记录并分析了16685次紧急护理就诊：面对面紧急护理（n = 14734），虚拟紧急护理（n = 1262）。面对面紧急护理就诊的平均总时间（70.89分钟）和虚拟紧急护理就诊的平均总时间（9.38分钟）存在显著差异。虚拟紧急护理的平均总成本（49美元）和面对面紧急护理的平均总成本（142.657美元）也存在显著差异。紧急护理周转时间和虚拟紧急护理周转时间之间存在显著差异（因变量（DV）：53.77，<0.01）。我们发现虚拟就诊在成本和时间方面存在显著优势。我们的研究结果表明，需要进一步进行政策改革，以扩大目标人群中虚拟护理的使用，从而改善就医机会、降低成本、满足患者需求并减少急诊就诊次数。
