Patients Satisfaction Level on Tele Consultation Services during COVID-19 in Tertiary Referral Hospital South India.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for people to seek medical attention in order to maintain social distancing and reduce the risk of infection. People can now easily access health-care services without getting any exposure to COVID-19 by teleconsultation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of satisfaction on teleconsultation during COVID-19 in a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: The purposive sampling method was used to select patients who received teleconsultation services in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research from July 2020 to June 2021 during COVID-19 pandemic. The cross-sectional study was done in outpatient department of JIPMER hospital among 77 patients using the semi structured questionnaire which includes basic information of the clients and 10 item Telehealth Satisfaction Scale (TeSS).

Result: According to this study, majority of participants (59.7%) were satisfied with teleconsultation services at a tertiary care hospital during COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 77 participants, 31.2% experienced language barriers, 49.4% experienced virtual physical examination as a barrier, 58.4% experienced connectivity issues, 51.9% were not satisfied in telling their complaints, 61% expressed lack in health talk, and 57.1% experienced a lack of a physical examination and 57.1% reported comfort issues as a barrier to teleconsultation services Conclusion: Telehealth has successfully lessened the geographical and temporal barriers to receiving care in traditional modalities. This study concluded that majority of participants were satisfied with teleconsultation with significant association between participants' degree of satisfaction with their profession.