Telehealth to Support Practice in Remote Regions: A Survey Among Medical Residents

Abstract

Medical workforce distribution represents a particular challenge in Quebec, Canada. Telehealth is considered a promising tool to provide access to health care, but also to increase professional support in remote regions. This survey was aimed at exploring medical residents' perceptions toward telehealth and its potential impact on their intention to practice in remote regions. A questionnaire was distributed to a convenient sample of medical residents. A total of 67 questionnaires were analyzed. Analyses were performed to explore relationships between factors related to residents' intention to practice in remote regions and factors associated with their intention to use telehealth. Residents perceived telehealth positively and thought that it could influence favorably medical practice in remote regions. Furthermore, telehealth was associated with better continuing medical education and this factor is a strong predictor of medical residents' intention to practice in remote regions. Telehealth constitutes a precious tool to support the delivery of health services in remote regions and to facilitate the work of physicians. Nonetheless, telehealth alone would not solve medical resource shortages in remote regions.