Details of studies of patient satisfaction with teleconsultation in which patient numbers were >20 and methods of measuring satisfaction are explicitly described

Study	Aims in relation to patient satisfaction clearly described	Main outcomes clearly described in introduction or methods	Patient characteristics clearly described	Main findings (simple outcome data including numerators and denominators) reported	Patients representative of entire population from which they were recruited	Patient selection criteria (No of patients)	Study setting	Study design	Results
Allen et al²¹	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Patients who opted to try telemedicine when bad weather precluded on site visits (39)	Between university medical centre and remote hospital	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	High levels of satisfaction reported at initial telemedicine consultation and at one after on site visit. For all but one of survey items, both initially and on follow up, mean score was 3.0 (positive). Patients found it more difficult to be completely candid on video when asked after subsequent on site consultation. 3 physicians saw patients, and satisfaction about ability to communicate with physician during teleconsultation differed in relation to which physician seen. Study too small to pursue observation that satisfaction with telemedicine depended on physician involved
Baigent et al¹⁹	No	No	No	No	Yes	Random selection from 440 bed psychiatric hospital (63, 41 used telepsychiatry)	State psychiatric hospital	Patients rated satisfaction with interview, methods not specified. Compared inter-rater reliability between 2 psychiatrists (1 observing, 1 interviewing): patients saw interviewer and observer psychiatrist face to face (setting 1), interviewer via telemedicine and observer face to face (setting 2), or both via telemedicine (setting 3)	High level of acceptance among patients interviewed by teleconsultation. More patients found teleconsultations moderately to very enjoyable than face to face interviews (54% setting 1, 95% setting 2, 66% setting 3); most found interview moderately to very interesting (80% setting 1, 95% setting 2, 80% setting 3); most would be happy to have telepsychiatry or even prefer it to face to face interview (60% setting 1, 55% setting 2, 52% setting 3)
Blackmon et al¹⁶	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Referrals, selection criteria not specified (43)	Between university medical centre and three remote hospitals	Questionnaire (7 point Likert scale)	Minimum of 1 person per family completed questionnaire: 46 adults + 9/16 eligible children responded. All respondents reported satisfaction with teleconsultation: 98% of adults agreed it was as good as face to face consultation. No audio problems, only 1 adult reported visual difficulties. 96% of adults and 8/9 children felt able to talk about anything over video system
Brecht et al.⁵	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Not specified (585)	Between prison and hospital	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	99% response rate. 69% preferred telemedicine. 56% felt equally comfortable with consultant in telemedicine or face to face encounter. 68% felt their medical needs were met better or as well with telemedicine as with face to face contact
Brennan et al¹⁰	No	No	No	No	Yes	Randomisation method not specified (104)	Between emergency rooms at peripheral and central hospital	Randomised controlled trial. Discussion suggests questionnaire used, but no details of structure	104/122 study eligible individuals participated (85%). 4 patients did not complete protocol (unclear whether telemedicine or control group). No significant differences between groups for overall patient satisfaction, positive patient-physician interaction, positive patient-nurse interaction. Telemedicine experience ranked higher than most recent face to face visit to an emergency department
Callahan et al¹³	Yes	No	No	No	No	Convenience sample, selection criteria not specified, exclusion criteria supplied for mental health patients only (93)	Between university medical centre and primary care physician�s office	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale). Compared satisfaction with medical and mental health applications of telemedicine	Response rates not provided. Mental health consultation patients reported feeling free to talk (mean 4.6), endorsed likelihood of using telemedicine again (mean 4.6), and 57% rated their telemedicine visit as better than face to face. Medical consultation patients scored 4.7, 4.7, and 66% respectively for same questions. Mental health consultation patients were just as likely to prefer use of telemedicine for follow up as those seeing other specialists
Clarke²²	No	Yes	No	No	No	Consecutive referrals (32)	Tertiary psychiatric centre and 3 rural towns	Questionnaire	Response rate 50%. 88% would use service again. 13% felt that service had not helped them understand their problem or develop plan of treatment. 93% reported no difficulties with sound delay or picture blurring
Conrath et al¹⁴	No	No	No	No	No	Volunteers (32)	Uncertain	Questionnaire. Compared patient perceptions about interactive video with colour or black and white television, hands-free telephone, and physical presence consultation	Attitudes toward physical presence were significantly more positive than each of 3 remote modes. Preference for the more sensory rich modalities, but not strikingly so
Dongier et al²⁰	No	Yes	No	No	No	List of last 200 consecutive cases seen by psychiatrists. Consecutive admissions that correlated with proportion of diagnostic categories recruited to study (50). Controls matched for diagnosis, sex, and age (35)	Psychiatric hospital	Case-control study. Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	Refusal rate 2%. Most teleconsultations rated "above average" compared with past experience. No significant differences between intervention and control groups in mean scores for any item on questionnaire, but direction of differences consistently favoured traditional consultations
Gilmour et al⁸*	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	GP referrals, no extra details (126)	Between GP surgery and hospital based specialist	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	Response rate 122/126 (97%). 59% felt that teleconsultation was just as good as going to outpatient clinic to see dermatologist, 18% said they felt uncomfortable, 17% said they were embarrassed using TV link. 96% could hear everything that was said, 94% could see pictures on screen clearly
Harrison et al¹⁷	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Feasibility study, no formal selection criteria (54)	Between GP surgery and hospital based specialist	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	Response rate 80%. 84% felt "positive" about using system again. 95% felt "positive" about their teleconsultation. None said they would not teleconsult again
Huston et al¹²	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Not specified (96)	Between university medical centre and regional medical centre, rural hospitals, primary care clinics, and rural GPs	Questionnaire (7 point Likert scale)	100% response rate. Mean score of 6.8 for statement "Overall, I was very satisfied with today's consultations." 16% stated they would have preferred an in person visit. Researchers concluded that participants were very satisfied with telemedicine service
Loane et al⁶*	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	GP referrals, no extra details (334)	Between GP surgery and hospital based specialist	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	Response rate 87%. Overall satisfaction with telemedicine: 85% felt comfortable with it, 96% could talk freely to both doctors during consultation, 97% could hear everything that was said, 93% could see pictures on screen clearly. 16% preferred teleconsultation, and 16% preferred traditional consultation, so degree of inconsistency. Benefits of teledermatology generally recognised: 88% thought it could save time
Lowitt et al⁷	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Consecutive dermatology patients (139)	Urban Veterans Affairs hospital, dermatology	Questionnaire (modified 4 point Likert scale). Scenario slightly artificial (only illusion of distance, patient and physician in same building)	7 patients refused to participate: dislike of machines (4), lack of time (2), frustration with skin problem (1). First 6 patients not included in analyses (2 withdrew because of time constraints). Responses positive for 97-100% of video examinations: most preferred video exam by dermatologist to visit in person by non-dermatologist; most preferred to see dermatologist by video close to home rather than travel to see dermatologist in person. Substantial minority preferred on site consultation.
Oakley et al⁹	No	Yes	No	No	No	New patients attending clinic, refusal rate not stated (104)	Hospital dermatology clinic	Questionnaire (5 point Likert scale)	Response rate 94%. Patients impressed with technical quality of process. 74% agreed teleconsultation reduced stress, 80% disagreed that they were embarrassed using it, 54% agreed that it was as good as outpatients, 80% agreed picture quality was good, 94% agreed they could see clearly, 91% could hear clearly; 98% could talk freely; and 97% agreed they were able to ask consultant questions
Pedersen et al²³	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Patients chosen on randomly selected day (26)	University medical centre and GP surgery at local health centre	6 item questionnaire	Response rate 92% (24/26). 88% would accept a future tele-endoscopic consultation. 96% were satisfied and reported more advantages than disadvantages. All patients selected at least 2 advantages of telemedicine: reduced waiting time (23), reduced cost to healthcare system (20), ability to see endoscopic images (18), perception that exam was more thorough (16), excitement with new technology (16). 7 selected at least one disadvantage: did not have proper dialogue with specialist (3), uncomfortable appearing on video (2), uncertain whether specialist understood the problem (1). 18/21 did not believe they would have received better treatment if seen on site by specialist
Whitten et al²⁴	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Volunteers. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria (22)	Between patient homes and remote nurse	Qualitative study (semi-structured telephone interviews analysed thematically)	Patients not particularly concerned about technological issues. 45% of those interviewed suggested that security was its main benefit; 41% saw little health benefit to them personally; 15% identified specific health benefits of being on the system. Participants perceived no difference between talking to nurse in person and talking to her over monitor.