IMPACT AND SATISFACTION WITH E-CONSULTATION: A PERCEPTION OF ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Keywords:
Rehabilitation, Consultation, COVID-19, Health, ADLs, Healthcare.Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
The havoc caused by COVID-19 around the world has infected millions with uncertainty and fear amid social distancing and lock down measures to control the spread of pandemic. This leads to have an adverse impact on medical priorities for consultation in a quandary. However, e-consultation has been used widely by worldwide practitioners to aid the patient and healthcare providers.
METHODOLOGY
A cross-sectional survey was conducted on allied health professionals, considering physical and occupational therapists. A self-administered questionnaire regarding impact assessment and level of attained satisfaction was distributed to participants in Google Docs via email or Whatsapp groups.
RESULTS
A total number of 109 responses obtained from the participants including 64 (58.7%) females and 45 (41.3%) males respectively with highest responses reported form 20-25 years (44%).The findings of this study showed that e-consultation services provided by therapists showed that (34.9%) were agreed to understand the completed condition of the patient, (38.5%) but (41.3%) disagreed to treat the patient same as physical appointment and (35.58%) disagreed to work more productively. Only (32.1%) were agreed to be satisfied during their consultation, (4.6%) were agreed to be satisfied of their devised treatment plan but (26.6%) remain convinced that they were unable to understand the complete condition of the patient during e-consultation. Consecutively, (49.5%) agreed that e-consultation can never be adopted as a good substitute of physical appointments.
CONCLUSION
It was concluded that limited number of therapists were satisfied with their e-consultation services while majority were agreed that the service cannot be a good substitute for a physical appointment. Therefore, further trials needs to be conducted to evaluate the factors causing hindrance in healthcare delivery. Moreover, it is important to make the service functional and provide adequate information and training for its easy access and implementation.
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