The Impact of COVID-19 on Patient Preferences in an Orthopaedic Clinic

Dominic S Carreira^1*, Logan S Thayer¹, Ryan McGovern², Geoffrey Van Thiel³, Andrew B Wolff⁴, Xavier A Duralde¹, Thomas Harris⁵, Margaret A Sinkler⁶

¹Peachtree Orthopedics, Atlanta, GA, USA
²Texas Health Physicians Group, Dallas, TX, USA
³OrthoIllinois, Chicago, IL, USA
⁴Washington Orthopaedics, Washington, DC, USA
⁵Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center, Glendale, CA, USA
⁶Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA

*Correspondence author: Dominic S Carreira, Peachtree Orthopedics, Atlanta, GA, USA; Email: [email protected]

Published On: 17-10-2023

Copyright^© 2023 by Carreira DS, et al. All rights reserved. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Introduction/Purpose: Patient preferences for physician greeting method and attire are impactful but often overlooked aspects of the patient experience, which may be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the use of telemedicine as an alternative to clinical care has become increasingly relevant to follow social distancing guidelines. This study evaluates the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on patient preferences for an orthopaedic surgeons’ attire, greeting and perception of telemedicine during outpatient visits.

Methods: A multi-center collaboration prospectively collected surveys to evaluate patients presenting with an orthopaedic pathology to one of five outpatient orthopaedic clinics in the United States from June 2020 through August 2020. This survey assessed patient opinions regarding physician attire, greeting method and willingness to use telemedicine. A cross-sectional cohort analysis evaluates these preferences and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on them.

Results: 412 patients were surveyed. 46% of patients reported preferring a no-contact greeting and 40% of patients stated no preference. 57% of patients reported that COVID-19 affected their preferred greeting. Almost 50% of respondents noted neither like nor dislike regarding physician attire options presented and 89% stated that this preference was not impacted by COVID-19. Although most patients or a family member had not utilized a telemedicine visit (65%), 56% of patients reported a willingness to use telemedicine in the future.

Conclusion: This study highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient preferences. Most patients preferred a no-contact greeting or had no preference, responses that were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 did not impact patient preferences for specific doctor attire, but patients favored options including a white coat. A majority of patients expressed willingness to utilize telemedicine.

Keywords: COVID-19; Perception; Attire; Greeting; Telemedicine

Introduction

Patient experiences in a clinical setting are affected by many factors, some that are indirectly associated with the level of care and treatment they receive. Clinical studies demonstrate that improvements to the patient experience yield greater satisfaction, increased adherence to treatment and improved clinical outcomes [1-7]. The novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in January 2020, has resulted in new concerns related to the patient experience [8]. The study aims to assess the impact on patient preferences in the orthopaedic outpatient setting related to surgeon attire, greeting methods and telemedicine.

Before COVID-19, greeting via a handshake was the patient’s preferred method of establishing patient-physician rapport in a clinical visit [9-12]. A goal for this study is to assess whether COVID-19 has affected this preference for greeting with physical contact in an orthopaedic clinic. With regards to orthopaedic surgeon attire, several recent studies assess patient preferences and generally found favorable responses to white coats and scrubs, attire options associated with increased perceived credibility [3,13,14]. Telemedicine use has rapidly increased over the last decade and is an increasingly viable option due to technology improvements and increased patient receptiveness [15-18]. A national survey found just over half of patients are willing to participate in telemedicine visits, but may have varied enthusiasm based on age, economics, education or other factors [19]. Based on national guidelines for social distancing and increased public health awareness, it is likely that COVID-19 has affected patient willingness to participate in telemedicine [20]. The purpose of this study is to evaluate that impact of COVID-19 on the patient experience within the orthopaedic clinic by assessing patient opinions regarding greeting method, physician attire and willingness to use telemedicine visits. Furthermore, variations across geographic regions of the United States are assessed.

Methods

Patients

A multi-center collaboration of 5 orthopaedic surgeons prospectively collected data from June 2020 through August 2020. The study utilized a single survey (administered in paper or online format) to evaluate patients at five outpatient orthopaedic clinics located in either the Northeast, Midwest, South or West United States. All participants were 18 years or older, informed and consented. Exclusion criteria included patients unwilling to consent or who presented with a non-orthopaedic pathology. Institutional Review Board approval for pre-hoc collection and storage of agreed upon de-identified clinical data points was granted at each center.   

Procedures

A retrospective, cross-sectional cohort study was performed to assess orthopaedic patient preferences and to determine the effect of COVID-19 on these preferences. Data for the study was stored in a de-identified fashion compliant with HIPAA privacy standards. The survey included in this study was created by the corresponding author and approved by all providers (Table 1). Surveys were administered in the waiting room prior to appointment and collected the following information: patient age, geographic region, sex, education level, importance of doctor’s appearance, preference for doctor’s attire, telehealth preference, greeting preference and preference changes related to COVID-19. Demonstrations of doctor attire options were presented to each patient in a lineup of photos and included: jacket coat and tie; white coat and scrubs; white coat and tie; white coat without tie and surgical scrubs only (Fig. 1).

Figure 1: Procedure for cross-sectional cohort study.

Table 1: Survey questions and responses.

Statistical Analysis

Descriptive analysis for demographics and patient preferences was performed. Comparisons between responses were analyzed using t-tests or chi-square tests between 4 different geographic regions as well as 3 different age groups (≤25 years, 26-50 and >50). Spearman’s correlation compared the importance of doctor’s appearance and preference for doctor’s attire. Cronbach’s alpha established reliability of the patient’s responses. All statistical analysis was performed with an a-priori alpha set of p < .05.  Data was analyzed using a common statistical software program (IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 25, Armonk, NY).

Results

Patients

A total of 412 (218 Female, 190 Male and 4 who chose not to identify) patients participated in this study range of 18 to 81 years and an average age of 45.0 ± 15.6 (mean ± SD). The geographic distribution of these patients included 154 (37%) from the Midwest, 119 (29%) from the South, 89 (22%) from the Northeast and 50 (12%) patients from the West.  Most patients were college educated, with 141 (34%) patients having a college degree, 123 (30%) patients having a graduate degree or higher and 100 (24%) patients with some level of college credits. A comprehensive reporting of patient responses for each question is presented in Table 1.

Greeting Preferences

A total of 188 patients (46%) slightly or strongly preferred a no contact greeting, while 163 patients (40%) had no preference of the 188 patients that preferred no contact, 93 patients (22%) slightly preferred no contact and 95 (23%) strongly preferred no contact. Furthermore, 233 patients (57%) responded that their preference for greeting had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. From those 233 patients whose greeting preference had been affected, 214 patients (92%) either favored no contact (73%) or expressed no preference (19%).

Attire Preferences

For questions related to specific doctor’s attire (Q7-Q11), there was a 50% – 59% response of “neither like nor dislike” for each of the 5 options (p<.001). Almost one-third of patients reported liking (very much or extremely) 4 of the 5 options including: 133 (32%) patients liking Q7 scrubs, 155 (37%) patients liking Q8 white coat with scrubs, 178 (43%) patients liking Q9 white coat with dress shirt and 180 (44%) patients liking Q11 white coat with dress shirt and tie. Although not significant, only 73 patients (17%) reported liking the Q10 jacket coat, dress shirt and tie, while 84 patients (20%) reported disliking that attire.

The three options that included a white coat (Q8, Q9 and Q11) demonstrated the highest responses of “liking” and lowest responses of “disliking” in comparison to non-white coat options (Q7 and Q10). The Q9 white coat with dress shirt and Q11 white coat with dress shirt and tie were regarded as the most well-liked (43% and 44%, respectively) and least disliked (3% and 4%, respectively). Additionally, 89% of patients responded that their dress preference had not changed following the COVID-19 pandemic. Responses to doctor attire questions are demonstrated in Fig. 2.

Figure 2: Demonstration of responses to doctor attire questions.

Telemedicine Usage

Almost two-thirds (n=266, 65%) of patients reported that they or a family member had not utilized a video telehealth conference from January 2020 to May 2020, though 230 (56%) patients reported that they would be willing or very willing to do so in the future. Of the 266 patients without recent telemedicine experience, 133 patients (50%) reported willingness to use in the future. For the 144 patients that had utilized telehealth, 96 (67%) reported willingness.

Statistical Analysis

Chi-square analysis evaluated differences in patient preferences for the four represented regions of the United States and is presented in Table 2. When stratified by region, statistically significant differences were noted for seven questions. The data stratified by region is presented in Table 3. Related to contact at the time of greeting, the northeast and south regions (61 and 69%, respectively) showed a stronger preference towards a no contact greeting when compared to the midwest and west (34 and 47%). Regarding whether preferences were affected by COVID-19, the south demonstrated the largest effect on greeting (Q6: 71%) and the west demonstrated the largest effect on doctor attire (Q12: 8.5%). Additionally, the west showed a majority preference towards surgical scrubs (52%), white coat with scrubs (56%) and white coat, dress shirt and tie (53%). The other regions did not have preferences over 50% for these categories. The west had the largest dislike for any category of attire for white coat, dress shirt and tie (12.3%). Even with the differences in attire across the regions, when combined a majority of our patients reported no preference (50-59%). Breakdown of the statistically significant responses by region is available in Table 2. 

Chi-square analysis for patient preferences was evaluated for three age groups (≤25 years, 26-50 years and >50 years), also presented in Table 2. Of the 12 questions administered only two demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the three age groups, Q1 and Q2. A spearman’s rank order correlation determined the relationship between patient reported preferences for the importance of the doctor’s appearance (Q1) and the reported preferences for doctor’s attire (Q2) and found a strong, positive correlation (rs(411) = .140, p = .004). Another spearman’s rank order correlation compared the patient preferences for doctor’s attire with Q7-Q11, producing a strong, positive correlation (p ≤ .001). A Cronbach’s alpha was calculated (α = .744) to establish the reliability of those patient responses and demonstrated a high level of internal consistency and reliability.

Table 2: Chi-square analysis for regional distribution and age group of patient preferences.

Table 3: Survey responses by region.

Discussion

This study of 412 patients evaluates the impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis on various aspects of the patient experience in an outpatient orthopaedic clinic.

Greeting Preferences

The majority of our patients (86%) surveyed between June and August 2020 were either opposed to or indifferent to receiving a handshake greeting from their orthopaedic surgeon, a trend which represents a diversion from reports before COVID-19. Golz, et al., published findings from surveys administered in 2019, showing that a majority of patients considered handshakes to be “moderately important” in outpatient orthopaedic care [9]. This is consistent with studies across several medical disciplines, including surgical specialties, general medicine and military family medicine [10-12]. Our study demonstrates a dramatic change in patient preferences, a change likely driven by increased public health awareness based on state and national shutdowns and social distancing guidelines [8]. As the first study to demonstrate that patient greeting preference has been affected significantly by COVID-19 (57%), we believe that this finding has important implications for clinical encounters. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient public health awareness may have resulted in actionable shifts in patient expectations for clinical encounters. Whether these changes will be transient or have a more permanent effect is to be determined. In any case, this study suggests that patient greeting preferences is a potentially important factor to building rapport in the orthopaedic visit that should not be overlooked. Especially during periods of increased public health concern, such as rebound waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, non-contact greetings can be adopted by orthopaedic surgeons in the outpatient clinic setting due to the overwhelming preference shift away from handshakes. This approach to non-contact clinical greetings may even merit consideration during more routine periods of public health awareness, such as the annual “flu” seasons or “back-to-school” periods for pediatric patients; further research into related areas (such as mask-wearing preferences) would also be appropriate.

Future studies based on this information could evaluate the impact of contactless greetings with patients. In 2014, Sklansky, et al., proposed banning handshakes in the medical setting as a means of reducing pathogenic spread and propose alternatives including open-hand wave, right hand-over-heart, bow, namaste and salaam sign [21]. To our knowledge, the effectiveness of these greetings in establishing physician-patient rapport has never been studied. When considering greeting method, religious and cultural factors must be taken into account. Berry, et al., emphasizes how greeting methods vary widely from culture to culture and can influence our social behavior [22]. Additional research into alternative greeting methods in the context of medicine could assess this topic further.

Attire Preferences

Most patients in our study indicated no preference for the offered attire options (50-59%). The three attire options which included a white coat in the outfit were rated the most positively overall which is consistent with previous reports [3,6,9,10]. Petrilli, et al., reported a preference for formal attire with a white coat for non-surgical physicians and a preference of scrubs for surgeons [6]. An orthopaedic-specific study by Jennings, et al., associated white coats with higher physician credibility and increased patient confidence that surgery will be successful [3]. Formal wear (suit jacket, dress shirt, tie) has higher levels of patient dislike across several reports [3,13,14]. Therefore, the results from our study provide evidence that white coats are an effective clinical tool that should be regularly used to build trust and rapport with orthopaedic patients. Patients in our study also largely reported that their attire preference was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (89%). Prior studies regarding physician attire have focused on the potential to carry pathogens between patients via doctor attire. White coats, long sleeved attire and neckties have produced concerns related to transmissible disease [23-25]. Studies have shown that increased patient education on the risks of pathogen spread associated with certain attire affects patient attire preferences. In 2011, a study reported that patients were much less likely to prefer white coats or ties after reading a statement about microbial contamination in those clothing options [26]. Interestingly, patients in our study generally expressed no preference, but responded positively to white coats. This may be explained by a lack of patient education related to potential pathogen exposure. Especially in light of the pandemic, we suspect that patient preferences will evolve as patients become more educated about the potential transmission of disease through clothing. It is reasonable to consider scrubs and to avoid formal wear (e.g., suit jacket, dress shirt, tie) due to its lower patient-reported preference.

Telemedicine Usage

COVID-19 recommendations for orthopaedic providers published in June 2020 focus on minimizing in-person patient contact and maximizing telemedicine visits [15-17]. Rockwell, et al., propose that treatment of low-acuity patients should shift to telemedicine to minimize exposure and Morgan, et al., emphasize deferral of patients with nonacute conditions [15-17]. Over a third of respondents from our orthopaedic clinics had a recent experience with telemedicine. A majority (56%) of our patients reported that they would be willing to consider telehealth for an orthopaedic visit in the future, although only 35% had prior experience, a response that is concordant with a nationwide study in 2017 that found just over half of respondents willing [19]. Of those with prior experience, two-thirds of the patients in our orthopaedic clinics expressed willingness to use telemedicine again. Results from the current study and others consistently demonstrate that it is possible for orthopedic providers to effectively utilize telemedicine for patient care, so it should be routinely offered where appropriate. However, not all patients will be interested and those factors need be taken into account. A study from Norway in 2019 found that orthopaedic telemedicine patients reported similar satisfaction ratings to in-person visits and 86% of telemedicine patients preferred to follow up with another telemedicine visit [27]. A similar study in 2019 found comparable satisfaction ratings for pediatric patients [28]. From all patients responding related to the use of telemedicine, one-third to one-half of patients were unwilling to use telemedicine, for reasons currently unknown. Since we surveyed in-person patients instead of telemedicine patients, it is likely that these different patient populations predispose to differences in enthusiasm for teleconsultation. It is also possible that in-person patients view telemedicine less enthusiastically due to concerns over effective physical examination or aversion to technology [29]. Further studies may be helpful to understand and optimize the telemedicine experience for patients.

Regional Variation

Regional differences are noted in some orthopaedic patient preferences. Patients in the northeast and south were more likely to prefer a no-contact greeting and more likely to report that COVID-19 affected their preferred greeting. This trend may be explained by the higher prevalence of COVID-19 in those regions during the initial phases of the pandemic [30]. With regards to surgeon attire, a white coat with dress shirt and tie was among the most positively rated options by patients overall, but patients in the west responded much more negatively compared to other regions, a result that contradicts findings from the Petrilli, et al., study, which found that west patients preferred white coat with formal attire more than midwestern or northeastern patients [6]. A much higher proportion of our west patients reported COVID-19 affected their attire preferences than the overall average (8.5% versus 2.7%), which suggests that COVID-19 may have contributed to this inconsistency in regional attire preferences between studies. The cause of this shift is unclear; future studies could assess these regional variations further. This study does have limitations. While each region was accessed, there were only one or two clinic sites per region. Additionally, inequal distribution of survey responses across regions (range: 50-154) may have affected the total percentages mentioned. As the study was administered during a single visit, no follow up questions or clarifications could be asked of the participants. The clinical study sites were primarily in urban and suburban areas, which were more affected by COVID-19 than rural areas; thus, these results largely do not reflect the preferences of rural patients [30].

Conclusion

The COVID-19 public health crisis has had a significant impact on the method through which patients wish to be greeted. Physicians should strive to implement a no-contact greeting method during the current pandemic. Patients largely indicate no preference in attire for their orthopaedic surgeons, but rated options with white coats the most positively. 56% of patients expressed future interest in telemedicine visits.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Daniel Shaw BS for revision input. The authors declare that there is no conflict-of-interest present or funds received for the execution of this study. The results of this study are presented clearly, honestly and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Article Type

Research Article

Publication History

Received On: 20-08-2023
Accepted On: 09-10-2023
Published On: 17-10-2023

Copyright© 2023 by Carreira DS, et al. All rights reserved. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Carreira DS, et al. The Impact of COVID-19 on Patient Preferences in an Orthopaedic Clinic. J Surg Res Prac. 2023;4(3):1-10.

Figure 1: Procedure for cross-sectional cohort study.

Figure 2: Demonstration of responses to doctor attire questions.

Table 1: Survey questions and responses.

Table 2: Chi-square analysis for regional distribution and age group of patient preferences.

Table 3: Survey responses by region.