Nurse Practitioner Satisfaction With In-Person vs Telehealth Care Varies

Nurse practitioners (NPs) who exclusively delivered telehealth care expressed higher satisfaction with chronic care delivery compared with those using both in-person and telehealth methods. However, NPs utilizing both approaches showed greater satisfaction regarding interpersonal manner and communication, in contrast to those delivering solely in-person care. 

Despite this, most NPs employing both methods preferred in-person care delivery. These study results were published in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

The extensive adoption of telehealth and regulatory adjustments expanding NPs’ practice capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic provides a chance to evaluate NP satisfaction post pandemic regarding telehealth care delivery. This assessment also aimed to gauge their perceptions of telehealth feasibility compared with in-person visits.

This study assessed satisfaction and preference in outpatient chronic care delivery among NPs providing adult care via in-person and/or telehealth visits. Additionally, this study explored NP demographic and clinical characteristics linked to overall satisfaction based on care delivery type.

This study’s data collection involved a cross-sectional, descriptive design that utilized online dissemination of The Care Delivery Satisfaction Survey to gather responses from a nationally representative sample of 586 nurse practitioners.

Results showed NPs delivering care solely through in-person visits exhibited notably lower satisfaction scores in interpersonal manner (P =.0076) and communication (P =.0108) compared with NPs utilizing both visit types. 

Conversely, NPs exclusively employing telehealth demonstrated significantly higher overall satisfaction and satisfaction subscale scores (all P <.01) in contrast to those using both visit types. 

Surprisingly, despite these findings, 77% of NPs using both visit types expressed a preference for in-person delivery.

Several limitations exist within this study. The adapted survey reached a national sample of NPs but didn’t measure their practice’s urban/rural reach. Although limited psychometric testing was conducted, the survey questions were derived from validated sources and reviewed for validity. 

Due to evolving COVID-19 policies, the survey focused on assessing the most recent outpatient chronic disease management care. However, the study’s generalizability is limited as most respondents practiced using both in-person and telehealth visits. Notably, the study lacked evaluation based on patient volume or practice reach. Direct comparisons between NPs using different care delivery types were not feasible due to the data structure.

“Overall, NPs providing care through telehealth only were more satisfied with care delivery compared with NPs delivering care both in-person and through telehealth. By contrast, NPs delivering care both in-person and through telehealth were more satisfied with accessibility, interpersonal manner, and communication compared with those delivering care in-person only. Finally, most NPs who provided both in-person and telehealth care preferred delivering chronic disease care in-person,” concluded the authors.

Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

Reference

Ibemere SO, Silva SG, Affronti ML, Masese R, Tanabe P. Nurse practitioner satisfaction with in-person versus telehealth chronic care delivery. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. Published online November 14, 2023. doi:10.1097/JXX.0000000000000964