PATIENT'S OPINION ON THE MAINTENANCE OF THE TELEMEDICINE MODALITY IN THE POST-PANDEMIC TIME

Abstract

During the COVID -19 pandemic, telemedicine became the most widely used medical care modality. Carrying out a “stay at home” medical consultation was a safe and beneficial way for both, patients and doctors, to maintain health controls. With the end of the pandemic, it is necessary to define whether this tool can continue to be used and how it will be implemented by health institutions. We aimed to determine how patients value telemedicine, and to investigate the reasons that influence the decision to continue using this type of medical care definitively. A mixed-type questionnaire of 17 questions was designed (segmentation and questions about preferences of use, reasons why they use/do not use the tool, predisposition to continue using it) that was distributed to different sectors of society through social networks. The survey was answered by people of both sexes over 16 years of age from 17 provinces of Argentina. All responses were collected using the SurveyMonkey platform and analyzed using calculation programs and statistical tools (Excel, Statistica 8.0) and the results processed using graphic programs (Excel, Power Point, Sigma Plot). A total of 491 responses were obtained, 77.39% were women, mostly between 21 and 40 years old (49.49%). 59.27% stated that they had used telemedicine during the pandemic, valuing the experience on average 4/5. Currently, 47.33% continue to use it, while the remaining 52.67% no longer do so. The reasons why people stopped using this tool were: the social inssurance no longer pays for this type of care (31.39%), the perception of a lower quality of attention when it is done through video calls (21. 9%) and the lack of offer from the doctor or the institution for this type of modality (18.25%). Of all those surveyed, 83.51% stated that they would like telemedicine to be permanently installed. In this sense, 38.48% would be willing to change their clinic or doctor to support the possibility of using telemedicine, and 52.53% would be willing to pay for the consultation outside of their traditional medical coverage (private/private), regardless of the channel used to make it (phone call/video call). Telemedicine represents a valuable tool for communication between patients and doctors. In general, the majority of patients value the experience as positive and express a clear intention to continue using this modality even when face-to-face care is once again allowed. A significant percentage of patients are willing to pay more to obtain this service or even change their doctor and primary institution to maintain it. These data are extremely important when making institutional decisions on how to maintain the continuity of telemedicine and which are the points that should be improved.