Video consultations in reproductive medicine: Safety, feasibility and patient satisfaction

Objective: To study the safety and feasibility of virtual consultations in reproductive medicine. Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving subfertile patients attending a video consultation between September 2021 and August 2022. Clinicians conducting virtual consultations during the same period responded to a parallel survey for healthcare professionals.Setting: University Hospital in Manchester, UK. Participants: Subfertile patients attending a virtual consultation. Healthcare professionals conducting virtual consultations.Intervention: The survey link was offered in 4,932 consultations. A total of 577 (11.69%) patients responded and 510 completed the questionnaire (88.3%).Main outcome measures: Patient satisfaction measured as the percentage of patients preferring virtual to in person consultations. Results: The majority of the patients (475, 91.70%) had a positive experience with the video consultation and just under half of the patients (152, 48.65%) preferred a video consultation to an in person consultation due to cost and time savings. Most patients (375, 72.68%) felt safer and less exposed to COVID-19. When the risk of COVID-19 subsides, 242 patients (47%) would still prefer to attend video consultations, while 169 (32.82%) had no preference. Analysis of the responses from patients reporting a negative experience identified technical problems as a possible cause. The virtual consultations appeared to be suitable for patients with disabilities. The clinicians' survey identified potential legal and ethical concerns. Conclusion: Virtual consultations are a safe and feasible alternative to in person consultations for subfertile pa-tients. This large cross-sectional study revealed a high rate of patient satisfaction. Appropriate patient selection accounting for IT literacy, English language understanding and preference is crucial for successful virtual con-sultations. Further consideration should be given to ethical and legal challenges of virtual consultations. Trial registration: Research Registry, UIN 6912, https://www.researchregistry.com/browse-the-registry