The Egyptian Transition towards Telemedicine during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey

Purpose: Telemedicine is representing the future of medical services. It shows many advantages and promising opportunities. It has been tried in different medical specialties. The COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced the establishment of telemedicine services worldwide. Low and middle income countries such as Egypt are still new to these technologies. The purpose of this study is to provide a snapshot data on the current situation in Egypt and assess its transition towards more integrated telemedicine services from the physicians' perspective. Methodology: This is a cross sectional survey through Online and offline questionnaire filled out by cardiologists selected randomly from different institutions in Egypt asking about their experience on the telemedicine (TM) services in Egypt. The data was validated by two authors separately. Findings: A total of 66 cardiology physicians have fully responded to the questionnaire on telemedicine in Egypt. Of the responding doctors, 57.6% said TM helped with emergent situations while 66.7% of them said lack of integrated assessment tools is a challenge hindering the transition towards TM in Egypt. The vast majority of doctors (95.5%) believe that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the usage of TM. Many physicians (77.3%) thought there should be guidelines and protocols to guide the online consultation process. Despite the fact this snapshot data has revealed that the Egyptian experience in TM service is far from the standard, it has showed that collaborative effort from all the stakeholders is mandatory. The COVID- 19 pandemic has enhanced the transition process, but some obstacles are still needed to overcome. Recommendations: Further research on the TM in Egypt is required to provide clearer insights on the situation. New strategies to be developed by the Egyptian government and the leading medical institutions are needed. Appropriate training and payment to the health care providers for the medical services are needed. Finally, working on the internet infrastructure and public health awareness and usage of medical applications are key elements in developing the TM service.