Telehealth services for acute diseases management: principles, trends and challenges in selected health facilities in the greater Accra region, Ghana.

Abstract

Background: The health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 have welcomed the introduction of technology into healthcare delivery, desalinating the accessibility to healthcare delivery. With the recent outbreak of the COVID-19, telehealth services have been the preferred means of service delivery to a wider population in settings where the physician-to-patient ratio is low. The study's objective is to investigate the principles, trends and challenges of using telehealth services for acute disease management in some hospitals within the Greater Accra region of Ghana.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive quantitative study was conducted among healthcare professionals across four government health facilities in the Greater Accra Region: Ada East District Hospital, Weija Gbawe Municipal Hospital, Oblogo Health Centre, and LEKMA Hospital. A structured questionnaire grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework was administered using a simple random sampling technique. A total of 439 participants, representing approximately 70% of the eligible population (n = 628), who actively use electronic health records systems, were recruited. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with STATA Version 15 and SPSS Version 23.

Results: In a cohort of 439 healthcare professionals surveyed, the majority fell within the 21-40 age range, and women made up nearly 60% of the participants. Most respondents held a bachelor's degree, with nurses, medical officers, and physician assistants forming the largest professional groups. Telehealth services were primarily used through phone calls, while fewer professionals used video conferencing or store-and-forward technologies. Overall, the frequency of telehealth service use was low, with many reporting that they used it rarely or only occasionally. The most common purpose for telehealth consultations was general care, followed by patient education and a smaller share for surgical consultations. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable model fit supporting the validity of the measurement framework.

Conclusion: The study found that healthcare professionals' satisfaction with telehealth services was most strongly influenced by how useful they perceived it to be. Telehealth services that were easier to use not only increased user satisfaction but also enhanced the perceived value of the tools. Interestingly, those who perceived higher levels of risk still tended to find the systems useful, although their overall satisfaction was slightly lower. Changes within healthcare organizations also had mixed effects, lowering perceptions of usefulness in some cases but slightly improving satisfaction. These findings suggest that strengthening system support, infrastructure, and aligning telehealth tools with clinical tasks can significantly encourage adoption in settings with limited resources.