JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

BACKGROUND To mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare systems all over the world implemented telemedicine technologies to respond to the growing need of the healthcare services during these unprecedented times. In the UAE, video and audio consultations have been widely adapted to deliver health services during the pandemic. However, little is known about the physicians’ attitude and perception of the quality of the clinical consultation and the perceived professional productivity when using video or audio telemedicine solutions.

Objective:

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether differences exist in physician’s attitude and perception of video and audio consultation when delivering telemedicine services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Methods:

METHODS This was a survey-based cross-sectional study conducted between November and December 2020 on physicians from Abu Dhabi outpatient departments who used telemedicine services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey used a 5-point Likert scale to measure physician’s attitude and perception of video and audio consultation with reference to the quality of the clinical consultation and the professional working productivity. Descriptive statistics were used to describe physician’s sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, designation, clinical specialty, duration of practice, previous experience with telemedicine) and telemedicine modality (video vs. audio consultation). Regression models were used to describe the association between telemedicine modality and physicians’

Results:

RESULTS When compared to audio consultation, video consultation was associated significantly with physicians’ confidence toward managing acute consultations (OR=1.62, 95%CI: 1.2-2.21, p=0.002), and an upward trend to provide patient education during the virtual consultation (OR=2.21, 95%CI: 1.04-4.33, p=0.039). There was no statistically significant difference in physician’s confidence toward managing chronic and follow-up consultations during video or audio consultation (OR= 1.35, 95% CI: 0.88 - 2.08, p=0.17). Video consultation was less likely to be associated with reduced overall consultation (OR= 0.69, 95% CI: 0.51-0.93, p= 0.016) and reduced patient note documentation time when compared to face-to-face visits (OR= 0.48, 95%CI: 0.36-0.65, p <0.001). Previous experience with telemedicine was associated significantly with lower perceived risk of misdiagnosis (0.46, 95% CI: 0.3 - 0.71, p <0.001), and an increased physician-patient rapport (OR= 2.49, 95% CI: 1.26 - 4.9, p= 0.008).

Conclusions:

CONCLUSION These results indicate that video consultation should be adopted frequently in the remote clinical consultation. Previous experience with telemedicine was associated with two times higher confidence in treating acute conditions, less than a half of the perceived risk of misdiagnosis, and an increased ability to provide patient with health education and physician-patient rapport. Our findings suggest that video consultation contributes to the quality of the virtual clinical care, and a telemedicine curriculum needs to be applied across the clinical training programs.