Providers, Patients Show Favorable Perception of Remdesivir During COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, treatment with remdesivir was used to treat the virus, and advanced medical care at home (AMCAH) was implemented. In a study published by BMC Infectious Diseases, patients and prescribers had favorable feelings towards AMCAH for integrating remdesivir treatment for COVID-19.¹

“Our survey results found that with physician guidance, patients were receptive to care at home,” the study authors said.¹ "High ratings of medical follow up, telehealth encounters, and low adverse event frequency were consistent with previously reported literature."

Remdesivir, a nucleotide analogue prodrug, started to be evaluated as a potential therapeutic against COVID-19. Originally, it was evaluated in clinical trials against the Ebola outbreak in 2014, according to authors of a review published in ACS Central Science. In March 2020, there was an influx of use requests for the drug, prompting Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer, to suspend access to remdesivir for compassionate use cases to shift the focus to clinical trials.²

In the current study, investigators aimed to use a survey study to better understand patient and physician perceptions of at-home care with remdesivir, including patient satisfaction, composite COVID-19-related hospital readmission and adherence, and the physician’s confidence with at-home treatment for the drug. They performed a retrospective study using a survey of patients 18 years and older who received at-home treatment between December 15, 2020, and August 31, 2022.¹

The survey sample included 1428 patients, with only 536 responding to email surveys (n = 140), text surveys (n = 42), and phone surveys (n = 357). Approximately 35.3% of respondents had at least 1 dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. All demographics were similar with the exception of age at a median of 59 years for respondents compared with 55 years for nonrespondents. Approximately 48.4% of respondents were Hispanic. Adherence, defined as therapy that was 100% completed, was found for 87% of patients, which the study authors attributed to having caregiver support all of the time (69%) or helping with transportation to the physician if needed (77%). The median age of readmitted patients compared with those who were not readmitted was 66 years and 58 years, respectively.¹

The study authors noted that patients who were readmitted to the hospital generally had lower health literacy, less positive perceptions about remdesivir, and lower patient satisfaction with medical care. Further, approximately 50% had difficulty with understanding written information about the medical condition compared with 33% of those who were not. Patients also reported perceiving remdesivir as decreasing duration of infection at 72.9%, and 49.4% reported that staff described adverse events in ways they could understand.¹

For physicians, 140 were included in the final sample and completed the survey via email (n = 111), text (n = 13), and phone (n = 16). Physicians worked either in hospitals (67.4%) or emergency medicine (13%) with 10 years or less of experience. Physicians reported that at-home care with remdesivir relieved utilization of hospital resources (93.5%), and 96.3% had confidence in pharmacy services, 84.6% in telehealth, and 87% in at-home nursing. Although 81.3% of physicians said they felt knowledgeable about the drug, only 56.3% were comfortable with the off-label use of COVID-19.¹

“Survey results provided key insights about behavioral intention, attitudes, and observability among prescribing physicians in the setting of high confidence with technology, nursing, and pharmacy services,” the study author said.¹

REFERENCES

1. Nguyen J, Hechter R, Ling-Grant D, et al. Care at home for remdesivir treatment of COVID-19: a survey study of patient and physician experiences. BMC Infect Dis. 2025;25(1):1398. Published 2025 Oct 23. doi:10.1186/s12879-025-11737-1

2. Eastman RT, Roth JS, Brimacombe KR, et al. Remdesivir: A Review of Its Discovery and Development Leading to Emergency Use Authorization for Treatment of COVID-19. ACS Cent Sci. 2020;6(5):672-683. doi:10.1021/acscentsci.0c00489