Arrythmia, IBD, Radiation Therapy Complication
Conditions
Brief summary
Background: Telemedicine adoption has expanded rapidly in recent years, creating new opportunities for access to care, particularly for frail patients or those with mobility limitations. However, the large-scale deployment of remote healthcare services has highlighted the lack of validated instruments to systematically and multidimensionally assess patients' subjective experience. Patient experience is recognized as a key indicator of quality of care, with direct implications for treatment adherence, appropriate use of digital health technologies, and the effectiveness of organizational care models. Rationale: No instruments have been specifically validated in Italy to measure patient experience in telemedicine. In response, the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli - Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (FPG IRCCS) developed, through a co-design process involving expert patients and healthcare professionals, the Patient Experience in Telehealth questionnaire (PET). The tool was designed to capture not only overall satisfaction, but also relational, informational, and organizational domains, as well as perceived economic and environmental impact. Objectives: The primary objective is psychometric validation of PET, assessing reliability and validity (construct, convergent, and discriminant). Secondary objectives include evaluating the perceived impact of telemedicine on care organization, patient-borne costs, and the environment, and exploring differences according to sociodemographic variables. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study will administer PET to at least 200 adult patients who received one or more telemedicine services at FPG IRCCS within the preceding three months. Content validity will be assessed by an expert panel. Descriptive analyses, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability testing will be performed. A subgroup will complete a test-retest assessment after 7-14 days. Hypothesis: PET is expected to demonstrate satisfactory psychometric properties, discriminate across different levels of patient experience, and capture the perceived organizational, economic, and environmental impacts of telemedicine in healthcare delivery.
Interventions
OTHERPatient Experience in Telehealth (PET) - questionnaire
The Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire was developed through a co-design process involving patients and healthcare professionals. The questionnaire includes a sociodemographic and telemedicine profile, followed by five Likert-scale sections covering access and technology use (6 items), communication with healthcare staff (5 items), privacy and safety (3 items), comfort, organization and integration of care (5 items), and economic and environmental impact (5 items). A general satisfaction section includes four items, plus one open-ended item for improvement suggestions. A supplementary in-depth section includes 11 items exploring avoided travel, time savings, caregiver involvement, device use, and interest in an automated carbon dioxide (CO₂) estimate. The questionnaire comprises 39 closed-ended items, 4 satisfaction items, 11 in-depth items, and 1 open-ended item. Completion time is approximately 10-15 minutes, and the survey is administered online in anonymous form.
Sponsors
Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age ≥18 years * Receipt of at least one telemedicine service at FPG IRCCS * Provision of informed consent to participate in the study.
Exclusion criteria
* Cognitive or linguistic difficulties preventing comprehension of the questionnaire, in the absence of an available caregiver to provide assistance. * Exclusive use of telemonitoring services or asynchronous reporting, as the survey focuses on synchronous interactions (e.g., video consultation).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Construct validity of the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Construct validity of the PET questionnaire assessed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. |
| Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Reliability of the PET questionnaire assessed by internal consistency and temporal stability. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Overall satisfaction score measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Overall satisfaction with telemedicine services measured using a numeric rating scale included in the PET questionnaire. Score 0-10 (minimum 0, maximum 10) |
| Accessibility score measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Perceived accessibility of telemedicine services. Mean Likert-scale score (1-5) |
| Usability score measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Perceived ease of use of telemedicine technology. Mean Likert-scale score (1-5) |
| Perceived effectiveness score measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Perceived clinical effectiveness of telemedicine healthcare services. Mean Likert-scale score (1-5) |
| Organizational impact score measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Perceived impact on waiting times, care pathway simplification, and continuity of care. Mean Likert-scale score (1-5) |
| Patient-reported economic impact measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire | 1 month | Perceived reduction in patient-borne costs, including travel expenses and avoided work leave. Likert-scale score (1-5) and self-reported avoided costs (€) |
| Patient-reported environmental impact measured by the Patient Experience in Telehealth (PET) questionnaire. | 1 month | Perceived reduction in travel and associated environmental impact. Likert-scale score (1-5) and avoided travel distance (kilometers) |
| Association between PET domain scores and sociodemographic and clinical variables | 1 month | Association between patient experience dimensions and participant characteristics, including age, educational level, and digital familiarity. Correlation coefficients and group comparisons |
Contacts
CONTACTGiuseppe Vetrugno
CONTACTAngela Iula
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORGiuseppe Vetrugno
Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS
Outcome results
None listed