Improved longevity for adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) necessitates regular, longitudinal care for this population. Telemedicine has emerged as a strategy to increase access to subspecialty care. We evaluated patient experience with a virtual visit program in the pre-COVID era to identify patient-centered benefits and limitations. We enrolled patients for 30-minute synchronous videoconferencing virtual visits at our institution between October 2013 and March 2019. All patients were Massachusetts residents. Patients were surveyed and their characteristics were abstracted from electronic medical records. A total of 264 virtual visits were conducted among 174 patients with a median age of 40 years. Patients traveled a median of 70 miles for in-person visits. Many visits were to review patient data (47%), and most individuals had moderate complexity CHD (45%). Patients reported very high satisfaction with a median visit rating of 10. Patients mostly preferred virtual visits when considering convenience and cost. No difference in preference to in-person visits was reported when considering sharing private information, confidence that concerns would be addressed, and overall visit quality. In-person visits were still preferred for personal connections and showing a physical problem. We find that patients are highly satisfied with virtual visits. ACHD programs should consider blended virtual and in-person care. Long-term regulatory provisions will further improve care through the expansion of telemedicine in the post-COVID era.

中文翻译：

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先天性心脏病成人虚拟就诊计划的患者评估

要延长患有先天性心脏病 (ACHD) 的成年人的寿命，就必须对该人群进行定期、纵向的护理。远程医疗已成为增加获得专科护理机会的一项战略。我们评估了新冠疫情之前的虚拟就诊项目的患者体验，以确定以患者为中心的好处和局限性。 2013 年 10 月至 2019 年 3 月期间，我们在我们的机构招募了患者进行 30 分钟的同步视频会议虚拟就诊。所有患者都是马萨诸塞州居民。对患者进行了调查，并从电子病历中提取了他们的特征。对 174 名中位年龄为 40 岁的患者进行了总共 264 次虚拟就诊。患者亲自就诊的平均行程为 70 英里。许多就诊是为了审查患者数据 (47%)，大多数人患有中度复杂性先心病 (45%)。患者对中位就诊评分非常高的满意度为 10。考虑到便利性和成本，患者大多更喜欢虚拟就诊。在考虑共享私人信息、对解决问题的信心以及整体访问质量时，与亲自访问的偏好没有差异。对于个人联系和显示身体问题，面对面的拜访仍然是首选。我们发现患者对虚拟就诊非常满意。 ACHD 计划应考虑混合虚拟和面对面护理。长期监管规定将通过后疫情时代远程医疗的扩展进一步改善护理。