JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Generalized restriction of movement due to the COVID-19 epidemic, together with unprecedented pressure on the health system, disrupted routine care for non-COVID-19 patients. Telemedicine should be vigorously promoted to reduce the risk of infections and to offer medical assistance to the restricted population.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to understand physicians’ attitudes and perspectives toward telemedicine during and after COVID-19, so as to provide support for better implementation of telemedicine.

Methods:

We surveyed all physicians (148) who attended the clinical informatics PhD program at West China Medical School, Sichuan University from October 17 to October 25, 2020. They come from 57 hospitals in 16 provinces (municipalities) across China, 54 of which are 3 A-level hospitals, two 3 B-level hospitals, and one 2 A-level hospitals.

Results:

Among 148 physicians, the survey response rates of 87.2% (129/148) were attained. The average age of the respondents was 35.6 ± 3.9 years (23-48 years), of whom 67 (51.9%) were female. The respondents come from 37 clinical specialties in 55 hospitals in 16 provinces in eastern, central, and western China. 94.6% of respondents’ hospitals adopted the telemedicine system, however, 33.3% of the physicians had never used a telemedicine system and only 9.3% used it frequently (≧1/week). Physicians who were willing to use telemedicine during and after COVID-19 were 91.5% and 88.4%, respectively. Physicians considered the biggest concern and the biggest barrier to implementing telemedicine was the inability to examine patients in person, which were 55.0% and 58.9% respectively.

Conclusions:

Telemedicine is not yet universally available for all healthcare needs and was not used frequently by physicians. However, the willingness of physicians to use telemedicine was high. Telemedicine still has many problems to overcome.