Perception of telemedicine among medical practitioners in Malaysia during COVID-19
| Autor: | Lokman Saim, Primuharsa Putra Sabir Husin Athar, How Kit Thong, H. S. Gendeh, Aminuddin Bin Saim, Danny Kit Chung Wong |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Telemedicine medicine.medical_specialty Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) telehealth Cross-sectional study media_common.quotation_subject education coronavirus Telehealth Perception Pandemic Health care medicine Humans Pandemics Reimbursement media_common Surgeons SARS-CoV-2 business.industry Malaysia COVID-19 General Medicine Cross-Sectional Studies Family medicine Female Original Article business |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Medicine and Life |
| ISSN: | 1844-3117 1844-122X |
| Popis: | The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought unprecedented changes in the way conventional health care is delivered. This study examined if clinicians’ perceptions regarding telemedicine and its barriers to implementation in Malaysia have changed during this pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Malaysian medical doctors of various specialties in four urban healthcare facilities between June 2020 and July 2020. A total of 146 (41.7%) out of 350 responses were obtained. 62% of doctors reported a reduction greater than 50% in outpatient visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of doctors either found telemedicine useful in situations similar to COVID-19 (34.2%) or that it is essential to their daily practice (42.5%). However, only 22% reported using telemedicine for consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 74% of doctors felt that telemedicine would only benefit up to 30% of their patient population. Significantly more female doctors (80%) felt that telemedicine would benefit their patients compared to male doctors (45.8%) (P=0.03). Physicians (51.3%) were more inclined to adopt telemedicine in comparison to surgeons (32.4%) (P=0.03). The majority cited medico-legal issues and consent (80.6%), billing and charges (66.7%) and insurance reimbursement (62.5%), technical difficulties (62.5%) as their barrier to the adoption of telemedicine. Female doctors and physicians were more willing to adopt telemedicine when compared to male doctors and surgeons. Although the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to improve the perception, significant barriers should be resolved before many can incorporate it into their practice. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|