The spring of 2020 was a tragic time globally in terms of public health as it experienced the impact of Covid-19. The death and serious health effects were experienced across the world and in that regard, the United States suffered in large numbers across all fifty states. One behavioral change that did occur because of this pandemic was a dramatic shift in terms of how individuals and health care providers began to interact with each other. People became more accustomed to telemedicine visits, going online and using their patient portals for checking into their medical records, and ordering prescriptions. As the immediacy of the disease had waned, health care organizations began to consider what the behavioral effects of this experience meant beyond individuals taking more care in terms of handwashing and potentially considering social distancing in certain situations. Organizations in some instances were thinking whether the impact of these experiences might be integrated more effectively into the care delivery system. At a strategy meeting of the Hopper multi-specialty group, the chief medical officer brought together the administrative and medical leadership team to discuss this issue. Dr. Charles began the meeting by saying, "Three months ago, we all finished one of the most incredibly challenging times professionally that I hope we all will experience in our lifetime. Our community experienced some significant loss, and the hospital, though not a major tertiary center, did remarkably well with the incredible dedication of the staff and all the firs responders. I think now as we look forward, I want us to not lose the experiences we maybe should take from that time. One of which waste online appointments and consults we had, the interactions with patients, how well our EHR held up, and the communication process throughout. Every one of you and the staff I have personally thanked deserves great credit. But what does it tell us going forward? "Dr. Sabic, one of the younger physicians, a gynecologist, spoke up. "Overall, I think my patients really liked it. It was a little adjustment initially. Obviously, I could not do exams, but on balance, I stretched my hours to be available. I even set them up at times that were later in the evening after my children and theirs went to bed, so it worked for both of us, which we all appreciated. I found as we did a secure online interaction, it worked well, and in many instances, it often seemed more personal in terms of engagement." Several physicians seemed to nod in agreement. Another physician, Dr. Anish, said, "I asked several of my patients who have devices to monitor their blood pressure and heart rate to regularly send their readings to my nurse. She and I would check in if there were any spikes, so we were monitoring anyone we were concerned about. Actually, we created a pretty good dashboard since our patients could not come to the clinic . "I never got very comfortable with the approach," said Dr. Miter. "Maybe I conveyed that to my patients. I don't know. "Fair enough," said Dr. Charles. "We were all thrown into something with no warning. "Roberta Smith, the marketing director, spoke when the doctors seemed to have finished. "Dr. Charles and I had a chance to speak, "she said. "I won't bore you with the academic details, but in marketing, we say here is a concept of functional shifting—what can one party do that was usually done by another in distributing a good or providing a service. I think it might apply here. As physicians, you are all incredibly busy. I see you every day running from exam room to exam room until the end of an exhausting day. I spoke with Dr. Charles and asked whether the Covid-19 experience indirectly helped educate our patients to shift some functions that we—I really mean you and the rest of our clinical staff—would be performing in the clinical facility. Would it save resources if we could consider it? And shift the function

 

Question: 

 If you were the marketing director of the Hopper Clinic now that the Covid-19 threat has passed are there marketing research questions you would explore with patients who had experienced telemedicine visits with their Hopper physicians? 

a. What would those questions be? 

b. Are there specific cohorts to whom you would pose those questions?