Table 4.
RDNa respondents’ reported barriers, facilitators, and resources for providing telehealth (N = 2016)
| Barriers and facilitators to providing telehealth | Responsesb |
|---|---|
| Barriers to providing nutrition care via telehealthc(n = 1409) | n (%) |
| Clients not interested in receiving nutrition services via telehealth | 581 (28.8) |
| Not being able to conduct or evaluate some typical assessment or monitoring/evaluation activities | 567 (28.1) |
| Clients not having access to the Internet | 521 (25.6) |
| Clients not interested in receiving any nutrition services at this time | 510 (25.3) |
| Difficulty with establishing relationships/therapeutic alliance via telehealth | 335 (16.6) |
| Lack of client referrals from medical providers | 331 (16.4) |
| Not being able to deliver some routine nutrition interventions | 265 (13.1) |
| Discomfort with delivering nutrition care via telehealth | 183 (9.1) |
| Payer(s) do not include nutrition services in their telehealth policies | 180 (8.9) |
| Clients not having a telephone (landline or cell phone) | 160 (7.9) |
| Not having remote access to the electronic health record at my home | 153 (7.6) |
| Not having equipment to deliver telehealth at my home | 151 (7.5) |
| Payer(s) do not include RDNs in their provider networks | 145 (7.2) |
| Not having equipment to deliver telehealth at my worksite | 140 (6.9) |
| Lack of employer support | 116 (5.7) |
| Not having access to my institution’s scheduling system at my home | 84 (4.2) |
| I am not part of and cannot get added to a commercial/private payer’s contracted telehealth network | 63 (3.1) |
| Otherd | 187 (9.3) |
| Benefits experienced by delivering nutrition care via telehealthe(n = 1513) | |
| Promoting compliance with social distancing measures recommended due to COVID-19f pandemic | 1323 (65.6) |
| Scheduling flexibility | 1012 (50.2) |
| Reduced transportation costs for clients | 853 (42.3) |
| Improved patient access | 698 (34.6) |
| Otherd | 171 (8.4) |
| Telehealth resources | |
| Consulted specific guidance about how to provide nutrition care via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 1588) | |
| Yes | 765 (48.7) |
| No | 702 (44.7) |
| Not sure | 104 (6.6) |
| Primary source of guidance (n = 770)e | |
| Employer | 473 (62.2) |
| Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics | 165 (21.7) |
| Another organization | 122 (16.1) |
| How valuable were the resources/information provided by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics on telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic (scale of 0-10 with 10 indicating extremely valuable) (n = 151)g | mean (IQR) |
| 7.8 (6.6-9.2) |
hIQR = interquartile range.
a
RDN = registered dietitian nutritionist.
b
Does not include missing responses.
c
Respondents were able to select all options that applied.
d
Open-ended answers were analyzed and are described in the text.
e
For respondents who selected that they did consult specific guidance.
f
COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019.
g
For respondents who indicated they consulted the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for telehealth guidance.