Teleconsultation as a Modern Form of Health Care Service in the Case of Poland: Assessment of Its Potential Use from the Perspective of Health Care Providers and Patients.

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has facilitated access to health care services through telemedicine in Poland, where it has not been a common approach so far. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate telemedicine as a form of health care provision in the Polish health care system. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to 2,318 patients and health care workers. Questions included telemedical services usage, attitude toward telemedical consultations, who should decide about the nature of the consultation, advantages and disadvantages of telemedicine, the possibility of teleconsultations remaining available after the pandemic, and the subjective perception of overuse of remote consultations by doctors. Results: In general, respondents approved of teleconsultations (3.62 on 1-5 scale) but specific clinical situations gained higher and lower scores-among the highest ranking were prescription renewal (4.68), interpretation of examination results (4.15), and treatment continuation/follow-up (3.81). Among least ranking were consulting children 2-6 years old (1.93) and children younger than 2 years old (1.55) as well as consulting acute symptoms (1.47). Health care workers rated their general attitude significantly higher than nonhealth care workers toward telemedicine consults (3.91 vs. 3.34, p < 0.001) and toward 12 out of 13 specific clinical situations and settings (p < 0.001). The only exception was "consulting acute symptoms," which received exactly the same rating within both groups (1.47, p = 0.99). Most respondents agreed that teleconsultations should remain an option for contacting a physician regardless of the epidemic situation. Each group declared that they should be the one to decide about the consultation form. Conclusions: Results of this study could help optimize and facilitate telemedical consultation usage after the COVID-19 pandemic.