Perceptions in using teleconsultation during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chennai, South India

Abstract

Introduction: People were reluctant to go to hospitals for consul tation, treatment and follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the availability of advanced technologies s uch as teleconsultation enabled individuals to continue receiving healthcare, contact physicians about their symptoms and  receive treatment. There has not been much research conducted in Tamil Nadu to evaluate how individuals feel about us ing teleconsultation to receive healthcare. It is crucial to evaluate the quality of medical care and patients' satisfaction with te leconsultation services. Objectives: To ascertain attitudes towards using teleconsultation a nd to describe the quality of healthcare delivered this way during the COVID-19 epidemic in Tamil Nadu, South India Methods: The participants in this study were inhabitants of Chennai , Tamil Nadu who were at least 18 years old and received at least one teleconsultation during the COVID-19 epidemic. An onl ine, self-administered survey form that was distributed over multiple social media channels was used to gather data. Results: About 61.2% of the 405 study participants were males. Th e average age of respondents was 34.6 years (SD=11.4). Almost 95.6% concurred that teleconsultation services have made it  simpler to seek healthcare throughout the pandemic. The majority (92.1%) were satisfied with the standard of teleconsult ation-delivered medical care. In comparison to direct consultation, 54.3% disagreed to preferring teleconsultation to save  money and time. Only 52% of the 92.6% of participants who were instructed to attend a follow-up consultation had done s o. 90% of respondents said they would still prefer to speak with doctors directly in the future. Conclusions & Recommendations: Although teleconsultation servi ces, in the opinion of many participants, improved access to healthcare during the epidemic, they still prefer to consult healthc are professionals directly in the future. Teleconsultation serves as an effective alternative to direct consultation especially in t imes of globally emerging infections.