Nursing Home Provider Perceptions of Telemedicine for Providing Specialty Consults

Background: Nursing homes (NHs) provide care to a complex patient population and face the ongoing challenge of meeting resident needs for specialty care. A NH telemedicine care model could improve access to remote specialty providers. Introduction: Little is known about provider interest in telemedicine for specialty consults in the NH setting. The goal of this study was to survey a national sample of NH physicians and advanced practice providers to document their views on telemedicine for providing specialty consults in the NH. Materials and Methods: We surveyed physician and advanced practice providers who attended the 2016 AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine Annual Conference about their likelihood of referral to and perceptions of a telemedicine program for providing specialty consults in the NH. Results: We received surveys from 524 of the 1,274 conference attendees for a 41.1% response rate. Respondents expressed confidence in the ability of telemedicine to fill existing service gaps and provide appropriate, timelier care. Providers showed the highest level of interest in telemedicine for dermatology, geriatric psychiatry, and infectious disease. Only 13% of respondents indicated that telemedicine was available for use in one of their facilities. Discussion: There appears to be unmet demand for telemedicine in NHs for providing specialty consults to residents. Conclusions: The responses of NH providers suggest support for the concept of telemedicine as a modality of care that can be used to offer specialty consults to NH residents.