Telehealth contraceptive care in 2018: A quality improvement study of barriers to access and patient satisfaction

• Published in: Contraception (Stoneham) 2022-08, Vol.112, p.81-85
• Main Authors: Hurtado, Arielle C. Mora, Crowley, Samantha M., Landry, Kaitlyn M., Landry, Mary S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: College-health; Contraception; Telehealth; Telemedicine
• ISSN: 0010-7824; 1879-0518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2022.02.011

The primary aim of this project was to facilitate access to contraception at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus by offering telehealth as an alternative option to an in-person contraception visit. The secondary aim was to assess patient feedback regarding telehealth contraception encounters and generate descriptive statistics of the 366 unique telehealth patients. We implemented this quality improvement project from August 20, 2018, through December 31, 2018, at the University Health Services (UHS) Women's Health Clinic at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Patients completed a health history form online and scheduled a 15-minute phone call appointment with a provider. Providers addressed concerns, contraindications, screening recommendations and prescribe a patient selected contraceptive method over the phone or scheduled a LARC appointment. After the telehealth encounter, we invited patients to complete a confidential electronic patient satisfaction survey. In the fall of 2018, there were 3413 contraception visits, 371 (11%) of which were telehealth encounters, an overall 7.8% increase in total Women's Health visits compared to the same time period in the previous year. The response rate of the satisfaction survey was 41%, with 97% of respondents reporting being very satisfied or satisfied with the telehealth option. Offering telehealth as an option for contraceptive visits improved capacity by increasing the total number of available appointments, including both in-person and telehealth visits. Additionally, telehealth may reduce barriers to reproductive health care with high patient satisfaction assessed prior to pandemic restrictions. This study supports telehealth as an option for health systems to improve capacity by increasing the total number of available appointments, as well as reducing barriers to reproductive health care. Our patients found value in telehealth for contraceptive appointments prior to the major shift to telehealth with the onset of the pandemic, suggesting that this value may likely remain in the post-pandemic future.