JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digitalization in the German healthcare system is progressing slowly even though it offers opportunities for improvement of care. In nursing homes most of the staff works paper-based. The Corona pandemic ensured that technologies, such as video consultation, were increasingly used in health care. To encourage these efforts, a project has been developed in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein that enables nursing homes and palliative care professionals to conduct video consultations with general practitioners, specialists, pastoral care providers or family members.

Objective:

This cross-sectional study was conducted to describe which digital applications are already being used in inpatient care facilities, the attitude of nurses towards telemedicine and for which areas the use of telemedicine in the facilities is considered appropriate by the partici-pants.

Methods:

The questionnaire for the survey was sent out by post to all inpatient care facilities in Schles-wig-Holstein on the one hand, and on the other hand there was the possibility to take part in the survey online. It consists of 17 determinants, which ask about the attitude, use and possi-ble applications of telemedicine. In addition to a descriptive analysis, the influence of the gen-eral attitude towards telemedicine on various determinants was examined.

Results:

425 caregivers participated in the survey. Of these respondents, 11% currently used video consultations. 76% of the respondents were in favor of video consultations being practiced in training. Furthermore, 75% of the respondents would attend a training on telephone medical consultation. Respondents indicated that video consultations have a small added value com-pared to asynchronous telemedicine e.g., sending photos. In addition, video consultations were perceived as somewhat less time-consuming than other communication channels. Video consultations are perceived as most useful for clarifying urgent problems. It was important to the participants that telemedicine is as simple as possible and that there is a high level of data security. The Corona pandemic had a major impact on the respondents' use of digital media in their daily work (Median: 2, IQR: 3). In addition, respondents estimated that one in five par-amedic calls at their facilities can be reduced through telemedicine approaches.

Conclusions:

Although many caregivers have a positive attitude towards telemedicine and perceive its ad-vantages, communication channels such as video consultation are still little used in care facili-ties. In order to promote the use of telemedicine applications, it is important to highlight the advantages and to train the caregivers in their use, in order to avoid uncertainties in dealing with the newer technologies. The presumed saving of paramedic calls thus represents a bene-fit.