Table 1.
Baseline demographics of patients choosing telephone versus telehealth
| Telephone | Video telehealth | Significance (P) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall number | 1188 (78.4%) | 327 (21.6%) | |
| Age (years) | 67 (54–76) | 61 (46–71) | <0.0001 |
| Male gender (%) | 670 (56.4%) | 213 (65.1%) | 0.005 |
| English preferred language (%) | 1028 (86.5%) | 294 (89.9%) | 0.041 |
| Interpreter used in those with non‐English‐speaking background (%) | 18 (11.3%) | 4 (12.1%) | 0.696 |
| Next of kin does not live at the same residence (%) | 362 (30.5%) | 78 (23.9%) | 0.640 |
| Private health insurance (%) | 193 (16.2%) | 68 (20.8%) | 0.054 |
| Rural patient | 135 (11.4%) | 61 (18.7%) | <0.0001 |
| Initial appointment (%) | 324 (27.3%) | 118 (36.1%) | 0.002 |
| Complex appointment (%) | 31 (2.6%) | 10 (3.1%) | 0.650 |
|
Cardiologist seen† |
Tertile 1: 90–100% (median 93.0%, IQR 92.5–100%) |
Tertile 1: 0–10% (median 7.0%, IQR 0–7.5%) |
<0.0001 |
| Tertile 2: 75–90% (median 79.6%, IQR 77.6–83.5%) | Tertile 2: 10–25% (median 20.4%, IQR 16.5–22.4%) | ||
| Tertile 3: 0–75% (median 56.0%, IQR 52.8–65.4%) | Tertile 3: 25–100% (median 44.0%, IQR 34.6–47.2%) |
†
Fifteen cardiologists were allocated into tertiles of five cardiologists each according to proportion of telephone/telehealth consults seen.
IQR, interquartile range.