Online Consultation Research Articles

Differences in Vaccination Consultation Preferred by Primary Health Care Workers and Residents in Community Settings.

To evaluate the preference of primary HCWs and residents on vaccination consultation in community health services to provide evidence for vaccine hesitancy intervention strategies. A discrete choice model (DCM) was constructed to evaluate the preference difference between primary HCWs and residents on vaccination consultation in community health services in China during May-July 2022. A total of 282 residents and 204 HCWs were enrolled in this study. The residents preferred consulting with an HCW-led approach (β = 2.168), with specialized content (β = 0.954), and accompanied by telephone follow-up (β = 1.552). In contrast, the HCWs preferred face-to-face consultation (β = 0.540) with an HCW-led approach (β = 0.458) and specialized content (β = 0.409), accompanied by telephone follow-up (β = 0.831). College residents and residents with underlying self-reported disease may be near-critically inclined to choose traditional consultation (an offline, face-to-face consultation with standardized content and more prolonged duration) rather than a new-media consulting group (an online consultation with specialized content within 5 min). Urban HCWs preferred long-term consultation groups (the resident-led offline consultation with follow-up lasting more than 5 min). In contrast, rural HCWs preferred efficient consultation (the HCW-led, short-duration, standardized offline consultation mode). The selection preference for vaccine consultation reveals a gap between providers and demanders, with different groups exhibiting distinct preferences. Identifying these targeted gaps can help design more acceptable and efficient interventions, increasing their likelihood of success and leading to better resource allocation for policymakers to develop targeted vaccination policies.

Netiquette and social media engagement of doctors: A renaissance in health-care delivery

Netiquette and social media engagement of doctors: A renaissance in health-care delivery

Superior medical resources or geographic proximity? The joint effects of regional medical resource disparity, geographic distance, and cultural differences on online medical consultation

Online medical consultation platforms enable patients to seek health advice from physicians across geographic regions. In this study, we analyze patterns of online consultation between patients and physicians. We examine the joint effects of regional medical resource disparity, geographic distance, and cultural differences between patients and physicians on patients' decisions about which physicians they consult online. Using a unique dataset of city-to-city tuples based on 813,684 online consultation records and combining it with region-level data from multiple external sources, we find that while regional medical resource disparity drives patients from medically disadvantaged regions to seek online consultations with physicians from medically advantaged regions, geographic distance and cultural differences tend to constrain these consultations. We also find that cultural differences can amplify the impact of regional medical resource disparity, whereas geographic distance may lessen this effect. Further, we discover that the constraining effect of geographic distance is partly due to the online-to-offline nature of online medical consultations. Moreover, additional analyses suggest that physicians' online reputation and information about physicians’ participation on the platform can help alleviate the negative effects of geographic distance and cultural differences. These findings hold significant implications for the allocation of medical resources and the formulation of healthcare policies.

When outpatient appointment meets online consultation: A joint scheduling optimization framework

While the provision of Online Consultation Services (OCS) has brought convenience to patients, the original offline outpatient workflow may struggle to maintain efficiency. Hospital managers’ concerns lie on how to reconcile the operations of offline service with the provision of OCS and what are the latent impacts of OCS on the operational performances of healthcare system. The outpatient appointment scheduling is a crucial part of the workflow decision that affects both quality of offline services and the fragmented idle time that doctors can reply to their Follow-up patients (FUP) during working hours. To smooth the fluctuations in workload of OCS, we introduce a novel decision variable—the recommended maximum number of FUP that a doctor should serve during overtime hours (FUP-MN)—and propose an inter-day service shifting strategy that any requests for OCS exceeding the FUP-MN will be deferred to be served in the fragmented idle time of the next session. We formulate a stochastic programming model to search for the optimal combination of the appointment schedule and FUP-MN. Propositions are conducted to demonstrate the model is valid not only in coordinating the dual demand for online and offline services, but also in restricting the potential overflow of OCS requests. We provide a general solution approach and also develop a heuristic algorithm to quickly obtain optimal workflows at different OCS demand levels. The numerical experimental results indicate that an appropriate introduction of OCS can give the healthcare system a strong ability to resist the adverse effects of uncertainty.

Selling by contributing: the monetization strategy of individual content providers in the light of human brand

PurposeThe integration of social media and e-commerce has resulted in a rising phenomenon among individual content providers (ICPs), who used to offer free content, to provide consumers with paid content, such as online courses, Q&As or consultations. Despite the prevalence of ICPs’ content monetization, empirical research has rarely studied its underlying mechanism. This paper examines how the characteristics of free content contributed by ICPs on social media platforms influence their paid content sales, focusing on the perspective of human brand.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical setting is an online knowledge exchange platform, where users are allowed to provide free content (e.g. answers) on the social media platform and launch paid content (e.g. lectures) on the e-commerce platform. A machine learning technique is employed to construct measures for the characteristics of free content, and fixed-effects estimation is presented to confirm which factors have a significant influence on the sales of paid content.FindingsThe empirical results show that the quality, diversity and expertness of free content have a significant positive impact on the sales of the ICP-paid content, with the brand popularity of ICP playing a mediating role.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to demystify the relationship between content contribution and ICPs’ content monetization from the perspective of human brand. The findings validate the effectiveness of the “Selling by Contribution” strategy and provide valuable insights for ICPs and social media platforms.

Forecasting healthcare service volumes with machine learning algorithms

AbstractAs an efficacious solution to remedying the imbalance of medical resources, the online medical platform has burgeoned expeditiously. Apt allotment of medical resources on the medical platform can facilitate patients in reasonably selecting physicians and time slots, coordinating doctors' clinical arrangements, and generating precise projections of medical platform service volume to enhance patient satisfaction and alleviate physicians' workload. To this end, grounded in the data‐driven method, this paper assembles an exhaustive feature set encompassing hospital features, physician features, and patient features. Through feature selection, appropriate features are screened, and machine learning algorithms are leveraged to accurately forecast doctors' online consultation volume. Subsequently, to glean the influence relationship between online medical services and offline medical services, this paper introduces features of offline medical services such as hospital registration volume and regional gross domestic product (GDP) to solve the prediction of offline medical service volume using online medical information. The findings signify that online data feature prediction can pinpoint superior machine learning models for online medical platform service volume (with the optimal accuracy up to 96.89%). Online features exert a positive effect on predicting offline medical service volume, but the accuracy declines to some degree (the optimal accuracy is 73%). Physicians with favorable reputations on the online platform are more susceptible to attain higher offline appointment volumes when online consultation volume is a vital feature impacting offline appointment volume.

An International, Multidisciplinary Consensus Set of Patient-Centered Outcome Measures for Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders.

Background: In 1990, the United States' Institute of Medicine promoted the principles of outcomes monitoring in the alcohol and other drugs treatment field to improve the evidence synthesis and quality of research. While various national outcome measures have been developed and employed, no global consensus on standard measurement has been agreed for addiction. It is thus timely to build an international consensus. Convened by the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM), an international, multi-disciplinary working group reviewed the existing literature and reached consensus for a globally applicable minimum set of outcome measures for people who seek treatment for addiction. Methods: To this end, 26 addiction experts from 11 countries and 5 continents, including people with lived experience (n = 5; 19%), convened over 16 months (December 2018-March 2020) to develop recommendations for a minimum set of outcome measures. A structured, consensus-building, modified Delphi process was employed. Evidence-based proposals for the minimum set of measures were generated and discussed across eight videoconferences and in a subsequent structured online consultation. The resulting set was reviewed by 123 professionals and 34 people with lived experience internationally. Results: The final consensus-based recommendation includes alcohol, substance, and tobacco use disorders, as well as gambling and gaming disorders in people aged 12 years and older. Recommended outcome domains are frequency and quantity of addictive disorders, symptom burden, health-related quality of life, global functioning, psychosocial functioning, and overall physical and mental health and wellbeing. Standard case-mix (moderator) variables and measurement time points are also recommended. Conclusions: Use of consistent and meaningful outcome measurement facilitates carer-patient relations, shared decision-making, service improvement, benchmarking, and evidence synthesis for the evaluation of addiction treatment services and the dissemination of best practices. The consensus set of recommended outcomes is freely available for adoption in healthcare settings globally.

How Positive Sentiment of Telemedicine Applications using Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine?

The telemedicine software lets users schedule appointments with physicians or hospitals, purchase medications online, read health-related news and publications, and have online consultations with doctors. Public opinion is necessary for this application to meet societal needs. The public's perception of contemporary health applications can be ascertained by looking to public opinion. Fine-grained sentiment analysis is used in public opinion taking to extract information from evaluations posted by the public and categorize it into positive and negative groups. Using RapidMiner as a supporting tool, sentiment analysis uses the Naïve Bayes Classification algorithm and Support Vector Machine to determine an accuracy value. After analyzing data from two different sources—Twitter and Playstore—it can be said that the Support Vector Machine algorithm performs 90.99% more accurately in predicting public opinion than the Naïve Bayes algorithm, which achieves 88.55% accuracy.

Promoting new users’ online health consultation services usage behavior strategically

Online consultation services have the potential to reduce the workload of healthcare staff, provide timely care to patients, and improve doctor-patient relationships. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of these services and platforms, but it remains to be seen whether the general public will continue to use them after the pandemic is under control. This research proposes a framework to examine the factors contributing to UK adults’ continued usage of online healthcare consultation services after COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. A total of 430 new users completed surveys, and the results indicate that expectation confirmation, system quality, and information quality can positively impact users’ self-efficacy toward using online consultation services. This, in turn, can influence their continued usage behavior. Furthermore, the results suggest that participants’ perception of health risks can moderate the relationship between self-efficacy and continued usage behavior. The strategic implications of these findings are discussed.

Pengaruh E-Service Quality dan E-Trust terhadap E-Satisfaction dan Dampaknya pada E-Repurchase Intention Pengguna Layanan Konsultasi Media Online

Apps for telemedicine are becoming increasingly popular as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Telemedicine thus competes with other providers to meet patient demand. Many tactics are used to overcome this, such as providing confidence and quality patients. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of E-Service Quality and E-Trust on E-Satisfaction and its impact on E-Repurchase Intention on users of Online Medical Consultation Services. This type of research is quantitative. The sample of this study amounted to 100 respondents who had an Online Medical Consultation Service application on a mobile phone and had at least consulted through the application or website at least once. The analysis method used is path analysis. The results of the study show that there is a direct influence between the variables of E-service Quality on E-Satisfaction in users of online medical consultation services. There is a direct influence between E-Trust variables on E-Satisfaction in users of online medical consultation services. There is a direct influence between the variables E-service Quality and E-Trust on E-Satisfaction in users of online consulting services. There is a direct influence between the variables E-service Quality, E-Trust, and E-Satisfaction, on E-Repurchase Intention in users of online medical consultation services. There is an Effect of E-service Quality and E-Trust on E-Satisfaction of 9.9% while the remaining 90.1% (100% - 9.9%) is contributed by other factors. There is an effect of E-service Quality, E-Trust, and E-Satisfaction on E-Repurchase Intention of 34% while the remaining 66% (100% - 34%) is contributed by other factors.

Collaborative Communication: A Qualitative Study of Roles and Emphases of Health Care Providers in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Clinical nursing in obstetrics and gynecology is a technically demanding job. Doctors and nurses have different professional backgrounds and work priorities, and there are differences in communication modes, which can easily lead to poor communication between medical staff and their patients. Therefore this study aims to examine the different communication roles and emphases of obstetrician and gynecologists, nurses and midwives in different sections of SEGUE framework, and further navigate the effectiveness and differences of offline and online provider-patient communication. This study employs in-depth interviews to address the research questions. A total of 24 health care providers, including 8 doctors, 5 midwives and 11 nurses, were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone. Doctors pay more attention to the "giving information" stage, while nurses pay more attention to "set the stage" and "elicit information" steps. Midwives and nurses spend more time with patients before and after labor. In addition to information giving, they also accommodate the "understand the patient's perspective" and "end the encounter" steps. Nurses and midwives would attach greater importance to "understanding of patients' perspective". Online medical consultation is more convenient for patients, which can be used as a follow-up complement to offline medical consultation. The health care providers of different types in obstetrics and gynecology communicate collaboratively with patients, highlighting the equally important role of midwives and nurses when communicating with patients. Nurses focus on "set the stage" and "elicit information" stage. Midwife is another important information source and medical care provider, especially for pregnant women in stable conditions. Nutrition clinic of midwife could be recommended for hospitals in second- and third-tier cities, which could help to alleviate obstetricians' workload. The provision of an online collaborative consultation could be beneficial supplement after face-to-face doctor-patient communication.

교육과정의 계속성을 고려한 글쓰기 상담 개선 방안 연구

The purpose of this study is to analyze and improve the problems of the writing counseling program so that writing education is provided in all grades based on the continuity of the curriculum in university writing education. ‘Continuity’ refers to organizing important elements in the curriculum so that they are repeated and vertically related. In writing education, continuity can be thought of as ‘strategic aspects of the writing process’, ‘knowledge aspects of genre and form’, and ‘experiential aspects of repeated writing’. However, there are problems with the preference for online consultation, one-time editing focusing on results, lack of understanding of the genre, and subject-related writing. In order to realize continuity in writing counseling, a smooth communication device must be established in online counseling, it must be process-oriented, and clients must be actively guided through this. Additionally, collaboration with major professors is required along with guidance on the genre.

Quality of asynchronous webchats vs in-person consultations for postpartum depression in China: a cross-sectional, mixed methods study using standardized patients

Prompt professional care for postpartum depression (PPD) is difficult to obtain in China. Though online consultations improve accessibility and reduce stigma, the quality of services compared to in-person consultations is unclear. Five trained, undisclosed "standardized patients" (SPs) made "asynchronous webchats" visits and in-person visits with psychiatrists. Visits were made to 85 psychiatrists who were based in 69 hospitals in ten provincial capital cities. The care between online and in-person consultations with the same psychiatrist was compared, including diagnosis, guideline adherence, and patient-centeredness. False discovery rate (FDR) was used to adjust p values. Third visits using asynchronous webchats were made to psychiatrists who offered discrepant diagnoses. Thematic content analysis was used for the discrepancies. The proportion of diagnostic accuracy was lower for online than in-person visits (76.5% [65/85] vs 91.8% [78/85]; pFDR=0.0066), as were the proportions of completing questions involving clinical history (16.6% vs 42.7%; pFDR < 0.0001), and management decisions (16.2% vs 27.5%; pFDR < 0.0001) consistent with recommended guidelines. Patient-centeredness was lower online than in-person (pFDR < 0.0001). Fifteen of 16 psychiatrists completed third visits, most of them considered lack of nonverbal information online as a key barrier. Online consultations using asynchronous webchats were inferior to in-person consultations, with respect to diagnostic accuracy, adherence to recommended clinical guidelines, and patient-centeredness. To fully realise the potential benefits of online consultations and to prevent safety issues, there is an urgent need for major improvement in the quality and oversight of these consultations. China Medical Board, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Global Cooperation Department.

Signaling Effects Under Dynamic Capacity in Online Matching Platforms: Evidence from Online Health Consultation Communities

Online Health Consultation Communities (OHCCs) have emerged as vital platforms connecting patients with physicians for online consultations. However, finding the right match between patients and physicians can be tricky due to physicians’ changing capacity to consult on the OHCC. Our study delves into how signals provided by OHCCs on physicians’ professional status and behaviors can help make these matches successful, especially when considering their capacity fluctuations. We differentiate between two types of signals pertaining to physicians–owned, pertaining to their professional status, and earned, pertaining to their OHCC activity and patient reviews of the physician. Employing a Hidden Markov Model to analyze data from a large OHCC on physicians’ voluntary online consultations with patients, we find the role of the signals in efficient matching to be contingent on the capacity state of the physician. Physicians’ professional status is particularly important when they have less time available, and showing active participation in the community can make the status even more impactful. Conversely, when physicians have more availability, patient feedback becomes crucial, even diminish the importance of professional status. These insights suggest that OHCCs should tailor how information on physicians’ professional status and patient feedback are presented depending on physicians’ availability as this can help patients to make better choices. By being active in the OHCC and earning favorable patient feedback, physicians with more availability can improve their attractiveness to patients, even offsetting concerns that can stem from the lack of seniority of the physician. The findings underscore the need for OHCCs to develop signaling and matching mechanisms that consider the capacity of physicians, thereby fostering efficient and satisfactory patient-physician consultations.

Impact of war on HIV-related healthcare services and health workers in eastern Ukraine: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused serious challenges for healthcare workers (HCWs) and HIV-related healthcare services. This study assessed the effects of the invasion on HCWs wellbeing and on continuity of HIV services, using in-depth interviews with HCWs from facilities offering HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine. A directed content analysis, with both inductive and deductive approaches, was conducted. Ten HCWs (6 [60%] doctors, 4 [40%] nurses; 9 [90%] female) were interviewed. Six respondents were displaced from their homes and worksites, and all described stress and threats to emotional wellbeing. HCWs used online consultations, encrypted mobile communication, and multi-month dispensing to support continuity of ART and PrEP services. They noted immediate needs for psychological and financial support, and access to laptop computers and mobile communications to ensure continuity of HIV services. Priorities for restoration of services include repair of health facilities, restoration of laboratory services and supply chains, and return of personnel and patients. HCWs made innovative, rapid adaptations to HIV services to keep ART and PrEP services running, demonstrating the resolve of Ukrainian HCWs to maintain continuity of HIV services despite the disruptions of war.

Characteristics analysis of Internet pharmacy consultation services for children in southwest China during the post-epidemic era: A cross-sectional study

AimThis study aims to examine the features of online pediatric pharmacy consultations in Southwest China, an area with limited medical resources during the post-epidemic era and to explore the factors affecting the dialogue volume in online consultations. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in southwest China from April 2022 to March 2023. The study encompassed a cohort of 2,526 children, ranging from 0 to 18 years old. The collected data encompassed patient gender, age, weight, department, drugs involved in consultation services, types of questions consulted, consultation start time, and the dialogue volume in online consultations. Descriptive statistics and an ordered multicategorical logistic regression analysis were performed. SPSS 26.0 software was used for data analysis. ResultsAmong the total Internet pharmacy consultation services offered, the infant group constituted the largest portion (n = 1021). Children with internal medicine concerns have greater online consultation needs (n = 455). The peak usage of Internet pharmacy consultation occurred in the fall at 11:00 a.m. (n = 73). Factors influencing the dialogue volume in online consultations include the non-availability of Chinese medications [P = 0.033, OR = 0.81, 95 % CI (0.67–0.98)], consultation initiation during the spring [P = 0.002, OR = 1.52, 95 % CI(1.17–1.97)] or afternoon [P = 0.012, OR = 1.36, 95 % CI (1.07–1.72)] and weight＜15 kg group [P = 0.038, OR = 2.19, 95 % CI (1.04–4.58)]. ConclusionOur findings provide important information for peers to carry out their work. In the post-epidemic era, emphasis should be placed on addressing concerns related to children's internal medicine and otolaryngology. Optimizing healthcare resource allocation should take into account the time-seasonal variability of children's consultation behaviors. Furthermore, it is recommended to focus on weight＜15 kg children in inquiries, absorb sufficient knowledge about Chinese medicines, and schedule more pharmacists to participate in consultation services during the spring or in every afternoon. These findings help the authorities of online platforms and the National Health Commission to rationalize the allocation of healthcare resources, optimize the quality of service delivery, and develop new policies.

Post-Pandemic Health Communication: Adoption of Digital Technologies in Healthcare by Residents of Mumbai

Digitalization has become an important part of human lives in many fields, ranging from education to healthcare. Digital technologies are one of the priorities in the development of the healthcare sector worldwide. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients became more engaged about medical communication and used digital technologies than ever. Health professionals started using more online/digital platforms to provide patients prescriptions and check patients’ reports. This paper is aimed at examining various forms of digital platforms on healthcare, which patients use for consultation with health professionals. This study is an exploratory observational study in which researcher conducted a semi-structured interviewsin Mumbai suburban housing society. The objectives were to understand nature of health communication post pandemic, perception of family about health and which digital platforms they are using? How are igital platforms being helpful in day-to-day life ? The Study found that most respondents still use an online consultation option with their doctors, pharmacy and lab investigation. The reasons for using digital platforms in spite of scope for physical outreach are time, money and energy savings. They visit hospital or doctor’s clinic in emergency or on unavoidable situations. It was also found that some organizations that pay medical benefits to their staff also started collecting medical prescriptions via WhatsApp. The study emphasizes the importance of digital platform, time and health communication in post pandemic world. The majority of respondents were satisfied with the digital platforms and would like to continue in the future. Among all digital platforms “WhatsApp” was most popular and used, which is still getting used in India. The respondents had significant impact by the use of digital platforms. Although some respondents showed concern related to data privacy. This also indicate shift from oral, face to face communication to mediated digital communication in Asian societies.:Digitalization has become an important part of human lives in many fields, ranging from education to healthcare. Digital technologies are one of the priorities in the development of the healthcare sector worldwide. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients became more engaged about medical communicationand used digital technologies than ever. Health professionals started using more online/digital platforms to provide patients prescriptions and check patients’ reports. This paper is aimed at examining various forms of digital platforms on healthcare, which patients use for consultation with health professionals. Thisstudy is an exploratory observational study in which researcher conducted a semi-structured interviews in Mumbai suburban housing society. The objectives were to understand nature of health communication post pandemic, perception of family about health and which digital platforms they are using? How are digital platforms being helpful in day-to-day life ? The Study found that most respondents still use an online consultation option with their doctors, pharmacy and lab investigation. Thereasons for using digital platforms in spite of scope for physical outreach are time, money and energy savings. They visit hospital or doctor’s clinic in emergency or on unavoidable situations. It was also found that some organizations thatpay medical benefits to their staff also started collecting medical prescriptions via WhatsApp. The study emphasizes the importance of digital platform, time and health communication in post pandemic world. The majority of respondents were satisfied with the digital platforms and would like to continue in thefuture. Among all digital platforms “WhatsApp” was most popular and used, which is still getting used in India. The respondents had significant impact by the use of digital platforms. Although some respondents showed concern related to data privacy. This also indicate shift from oral, face to face communication to mediated digital communication in Asian societies.:

Digitalization of the right to medical assistance: a comparative aspect

The article examines how to reflect the impact of digitalization on obtaining personal rights to medical care in Ukraine and the countries of the European Union. In particular, a really comparative analysis of the implementation of this right in domestic and foreign legislation. The positive impact on the process of digitalization of services in the field of health care is substantiated.&#x0D; The need for further implementation of digitized services in the field of health care to ensure the right to medical care of a person has been proven, providing a historical analysis of the positive impact. A significant example of a positive impact was the possibility of realizing a certain right in the conditions of martial law, where Ukraine is a unique example, despite military aggression, through the public digitalization of management, in particular in the field of health care.&#x0D; The statistics of the impact of digitization of medical services on the level of public health support in the countries of the European Medical Union, as well as the attitude of Europeans to the digitization of services, were analyzed. It has been established that it is still a relevant problem for both citizens of Ukraine and citizens of European countries, to weaken the realization of this right, given the impossibility of making an online appointment with a doctor, conducting an online consultation, taking into account the issue of relevant devices or funds. Protest is predominant among global citizen engagement, after digitized health services, is a convenient tool in today's world.&#x0D; Special attention is paid to the unique experience of Ukraine in the development of the digitalization of the right to medical assistance of a person in the conditions of martial law, despite active military aggression, because in these conditions the positive and negative aspects of this legal and social phenomenon are particularly clearly reflected.

Reconstruction of Islamic Family Law: Analyzing Marital Issues Through Multimedia

The development of social media and technological disruption has occurred increasingly massively, where the media has become the primary means of knowledge transformation. One example is the construction of a discourse on marriage that becomes public consumption through social media. This paper aims to explain the process of reforming Islamic family law through multimedia. This research uses a qualitative research method in which the researcher seeks to describe the media's role in reforming Islamic family law. The approach used in this research is digital ethnography. Reconstructing Islamic family law through multimedia can be a very effective tool to educate the public about Islamic family law, clarify misconceptions, and facilitate open discussions on family-related legal issues within the Muslim community. Educational videos, podcasts, webinars, infographics and educational graphics, e-learning platforms, documentaries, social media, mobile applications and online consultations are some of how multimedia can be used to reconstruct Islamic family law.

Ethical issues raised in using online tele-mental health (OTH): a review of studies

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing technology in online platforms has been a primary method internationally for upholding the health care system during this world health crisis. Online tele-mental health (OTH) offers exciting new breaks for mental health practitioners. However, initiation of OTH has also come with a host of trials, particularly on ethical standards. The goal of this narrative review aims to highlight the raised ethical issues among studies applying the modality of OTH which is a timely resource for mental health professionals who have been forced to move into the practice of online consultations and sessions. Using the standard key points of the mental health practitioners’ codes of ethics, applying both the American Psychological Association (APA) and the code of ethics provided by the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) is used during the review. Results show that there are problems and uncertainties for mental health providers striving to fulfill the shift in technology. In this study, the five of the most critical ethical issues found in OTH encounters include issues of competency, issues in the interruptions of psychological services in using technology, issues in integrity, issues in privacy and confidentiality, and themes that are considered accessory issues in OTH. The recommendations provided adheres to lift ethical issues raised in the review.