Patient and caregiver satisfaction regarding telepractice versus in-person services at a university speech, language, and hearing clinic

Purpose: The purpose of the pilot study is to explore patient and caregiver (i.e., spouse, parent, grandparent, child, and grandchild) satisfaction regarding telepractice versus in-person services provided at a university speech, language, and hearing clinic. Methods: Survey data were collected from 70 respondents (24 received in-person services only, 13 received telepractice only, and 33 received both in-person services and telepractice) during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Results indicated that patients and caregivers rated overall in-person services significantly higher than the overall telepractice services. Patients’ and caregivers’ perceived technology skills were not significantly related to their satisfaction of telepractice. However, graduate clinicians’ technology skills, professionalism, and the quality of materials used in sessions were significantly associated with patients’ and caregivers’ satisfaction of telepractice. Also, patients’ and caregivers’ interaction with graduate students and supervisors was significantly correlated to their satisfaction of telepractice. Conclusions: Areas of improvement for telepractice-based services were discussed. The significance of adopting telepractice clinical and technical skills in preservice speech-language pathology pedagogy was also highlighted.