Patient satisfaction with telehealth vs in-person hand therapy: A retrospective review of results of an online satisfaction survey.

The survey was not validated, and the 5-star rating may not directly translate to a Likert scale. The survey questions differed between telehealth and in-person groups, and some questions were not applicable to telehealth. The sample was small, especially in telehealth groups, and only 288 surveys were analyzed. Response rates were low, so the people who answered may not represent all patients. Ten follow-up patients answered more than one survey, so some patients are represented more than once. Follow-up surveys were sent only after 10 in-person visits or every 30 days for telehealth, so patients with shorter treatment courses were not captured. The study was done during pandemic restrictions when in-person care was not an option, so early telehealth enthusiasm may have affected ratings. It measured satisfaction only, not patient reported outcome measures or objective outcome measures. The telehealth initial evaluation group had more non-traumatic conditions, such as osteoarthritis, De Quervain's tenosynovitis, and carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes, than the in-person initial evaluation group. The study did not compare number of visits or utilization between groups. Satisfaction was defined by a recommendation score of 9 or 10, not by a direct satisfaction question.

Do not conclude telehealth hand therapy is clinically equivalent to in-person care. The study measured satisfaction only, not clinical outcomes, it was done during pandemic restrictions when in-person care was limited, and many hand therapy patients need hands-on manual therapy or custom orthosis fitting.