JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

China had reopened from COVID-19 prevention and control status since 2023. What role would telemedicine play post COVID is still uncertain.

Objective:

To find out the frequency of using telemedicine changed before, during and after pandemic, and to locate providers offering telemedicine in higher frequency.

Methods:

A questionnaire from a national survey in China was adopted. Healthcare providers’ response from 11 provinces were collected. Chi-square test were applied to compare general difference of telemedicine frequency between groups of before explosion, during pandemic and after prevention released. Regression models were performed to analyze correlations of frequency change and other factors.

Results:

Questionnaires from 428 providers were collected and included in this study. Providers who always or often offered telemedicine were about 46.26% before, 58.17% during and 62.62% after epidemic explosion. The difference between group before and during (χ2=17.21, P=.002) and between before and after (χ2=30.17, P<.001) were significant. Providers with senior professional titles (OR 3.47, 95% CI 1.46-8.49), using third-party platforms (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.29-0.86), performed online visit longer than in-person visit (OR 3.14, 95% CI 1.64-6.11) and online visit shorter (OR=2.27, 95% CI 1.31-4.07) were correlated with frequency increase after control released versus before pandemic.

Conclusions:

Frequency of telemedicine was increased since COVID-19 pandemic exploded, and was still high after control released in China. Providers with both longer and shorter length of online visit were more likely to use telemedicine.