Telemedicine Awareness and the Preferred Digital Healthcare Tools: A Community-based Cross-sectional Study from Rural Karnataka, India.

Abstract

The Indian government launched national teleconsultation services (eSanjeevani OPD) to provide safe doctor-to-patient consultations. This study aimed to determine the awareness and willingness to seek services from eSanjeevani OPDs. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in Nandigudi village, Karnataka. The total sample size was 273, and participants were recruited using a systematic sampling technique. The prevalence of awareness about teleconsultations was 2.2% (n = 6, 95% CI: 0.8-4.7%). None of the participants utilized eSanjeevani services in the last year. Approximately 56.0% (n = 153, 95% CI: 49.9-62.0%) were willing to use eSanjeevani OPD. "Not being familiar" (n = 99, 82.5%) with eSanjeevani OPD was the major reason for unwillingness to use teleconsultation, and 73.8% (n = 113) preferred video calls as the mode of communication. The majority of the participants were not aware of and were unwilling to use eSanjeevani OPD. Therefore, healthcare professionals should focus more on creating awareness of teleconsultations.