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Objectives
Despite its recent expansion in the US, little is known about patient experiences
with direct-to-patient telehealth abortion care and its role in addressing inequities
in access to care.
Methods
We analyzed surveys from patients of three US virtual abortion clinics — Choix, Hey
Jane, and Abortion on Demand — who received care between April 2021 and January 2022.
We described telehealth abortion experiences and used logistic regression to evaluate
inequities by race/ethnicity and by whether the patient communicated with the provider
by video (synchronous) or messaging (asynchronous).
Results
Across the 1,306 included participants, nearly all (98%) felt they could trust the
telehealth provider, 95% said that telehealth abortion was the right experience for
them, and 89% were very satisfied. Participants cited privacy (93%) and the ability
to get the abortion pills quickly (91%) as benefits. The most common drawbacks were
concerns about whether the service was legitimate (37%), not confirming the abortion
outcome at a clinic (23%), and not having a screening ultrasound (21%). Compared to
white participants, Asian participants were less likely to be very satisfied with
their care (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3–1.0). We found no other differences by race/ethnicity.
While patients who received synchronous care were more likely to report that telehealth
was right for them (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.0–6.3), we found no differences in satisfaction
and trust by communication method.
Conclusions
Telehealth abortion care is highly acceptable, and its benefits include privacy and
expediency. However, there may be some differences by race/ethnicity that warrant
further exploration.
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Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
