Investigating patient satisfaction with a hand therapy telehealth service during COVID-19.

Introduction: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, outpatient hand therapy services were restricted. The use of telehealth was adopted to continue to provide care to patients with hand injuries. This survey aims to investigate patient satisfaction with hand therapy delivered via telehealth in a NSW public tertiary referral metropolitan setting and explore whether this differs for specific hand injury/conditions and treatments offered.

Methods: Patients using hand therapy services via telehealth between 28 June 2021 and 27 May 2022 responded to a bespoke electronic survey. Participants were grouped depending on their particular injury/condition and treatment received. Analysis was conducted using MS Excel, and correlations were determined by using Fisher's exact test.

Community and consumer involvement: No consumers were involved in the study design or analysis.

Results: Sixty-eight of 262 patients responded to the survey (26% response rate). Overall results showed high patient satisfaction (n = 55, 81%) with hand therapy delivered via telehealth with most patients agreeing that telehealth should be offered going forward (n = 59, 87%). Benefits reported by patients included convenience, reduced travel time and parking issues, and time saving. Patients receiving therapy for 'finger thumb bony injury with K wires' demonstrated a statistically significant association of lower satisfaction with telehealth (n = 3, 43%, P = 0.02). Patients receiving wound care over telehealth were just as satisfied with their experience (n = 15, 82%) as overall results (n = 55, 81%).

Conclusion: The survey suggests that patients are satisfied with their experience of telehealth for hand therapy. Patients with finger thumb bony injuries with k wires may be less suitable for telehealth. Wound care appears to be well received over telehealth in a hand therapy population.

Plain language summary: There is little evidence to guide hand therapists in which conditions or injuries patients find can be managed well with telehealth. Patients who answered a survey about their experience with telehealth for their hand therapy management overall reported satisfaction with the experience. Some patients had undergone surgery for broken fingers and thumbs using wires to hold the bone together while it healed. These patients were less likely to find telehealth satisfactory for their hand therapy care. Most patients requiring wound care over telehealth found this satisfactory.