Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Feb 25, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 8, 2024 - Jun 3, 2024
Date Accepted: Aug 26, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
User’s perceived service quality of national telemedicine services during COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a burden on our health system, and highlighted the importance of teleconsultation as an alternative mode. In Bangladesh, care seeking through telemedicine had increased up to 20 folds during pandemic.
Objective:
This study aims to assess the influence of service quality and satisfaction on the intention to continue using the national teleconsultation service by users who availed the service during the Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.
Methods:
A conceptual model was proposed with the constructs derived from a validated mHealth Service Quality model. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2097 participants from October to December 2020 who used Shastho Batayon at least once. The research model was tested by following the partial least squares method based on structural equation modelling (SEM) using Confirmatory Factor Analysis SmartPLS 3.0.
Results:
Among the 2097 study participants, the majority of callers were from urban areas (76%), had 10+ years of education (64%), with middle income background (79%), male (78%), and belonged to the age group 18-39 years (68%). Study findings indicated that all three dimensions (platform quality, interaction quality, outcome quality) and nine sub-dimensions of the service quality model contribute to service quality. Service quality has significant influence on the user’s satisfaction (β=0.327, P<.001) and intention to continue usage (β= 0.102, P<.001), and user satisfaction has influence on the intention to continue usage (β= 0.311, P<.001).
Conclusions:
This study has addressed the theories and practice in the field of telemedicine services, especially in the context of developing countries. To upkeep, the service quality is crucial for the user satisfaction and continuance of use of telemedicine. The findings and implications of this research are relevant for teleconsultation service providers, policymakers and patients in low middle-income countries, where human resource constraints in healthcare can be addressed through teleconsultation services.
Citation
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