A need to socially distance, along with regulatory waivers, led to a boom of telehealth utilization in hospice, making it a critical connection linking providers to patients. However, new data suggests that patient satisfaction with telehealth is declining across the health care continuum.

Earlier in the pandemic, satisfaction with telehealth ran high, but that appears to be changing. A recent study from J.D. Power identified a number of factors that could be driving the decline, including a limited range of services, inconsistent delivery and access, confusing technology, unexpected costs and a lack of health care provider details. The study examined direct-to-consumer and payer-sponsored telehealth services across the country.

“Digging deeper into the research, it’s clear that customer satisfaction has declined during the same [year] period, with many users citing limited access to the services they need and inconsistencies in the care they receive,” James Beem, managing director of global health care intelligence at J.D. Power. “As the industry grows, it is critical to address these challenges.”

The study gauged more than 4,600 consumers’ telehealth experiences from June 2020 to July 2021.

Telehealth utilization rose up to 36% this year, a stark jump from 9% in 2020 and 7% in 2019, J.D. Power reported. Patients indicated lower satisfaction with telehealth this year compared to last.

Nearly 60% of telehealth users indicated convenience as a main driver to utilization, according to the study findings. Quick access to care and safety also topped the list at 47% and 36%, respectively.

Hospices nationwide plan to continue their telehealth programs beyond the pandemic as a supplement to in-person care.

Patient and family experiences of telehealth are just one of the challenges for hospices to navigate as they build out their programs, including uncertainties in the long-term regulatory landscape.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended a number of flexibilities for telehealth on a temporary basis during the COVID-19 national emergency to reduce the likelihood that patients, families or clinicians could spread the virus. Last year President Trump issued an executive order instructing the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to review temporary telehealth flexibilities to determine which could be made permanent. These moves by CMS, coupled with the need to maintain social distancing has caused demand for telehealth to skyrocket.

An uptick in telehealth use hasn’t correlated to rising patient satisfaction in the last year, which saw a decline of 85 points lower out of a 1,000-point scale, according to the J.D. Power research. Limited services was a leading cause for 24% of patients surveyed, followed by a lack of awareness of costs, confusing technology requirements and a lack of information about providers (each at 15%).

Overall patient satisfaction among higher-risk patients and those with self-reported poor health was lower than among those who considered themselves to be in excellent health. High-risk respondents were less likely than healthy patients to understand the information provided during the visit.

Healthier patients were more likely than others to understand the information provided during their telehealth visits, with more of these respondents perceiving services and virtual care as “highly personalized” and receiving “high-quality diagnoses,” according to the study.

The study indicates that patient perception of telehealth has taken a dive. A nationwide survey last year from data solutions company Kyruss that spanned from February to May in 2020 showed initially positive patient perceptions. Most reported high overall satisfaction with virtual care, including those in hospice settings.

Additionally, a 2020 AmWell report found that 24.85 million out of 47.8 million Americans over the age of 65 were willing to use telehealth. Interest in telehealth among seniors was found to be driven most by faster access to care providers.

More than 726,200 lives have been lost to the pandemic in the United States since its onset, according to recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.