Physician’s Perception of Tele-Medicine and its Role During Covid-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Kalaburagi City, India

Abstract

Background :Telemedicineis use of remote based online technology to provide medical consultation to the patients by Physicians. The Covid-19 Pandemic has increased the use of virtual care since last two years. There is a need to analyze its effectiveness and usefulness among the Physician community so that we can get good benefits from it even in the future and address if any difficulties are being faced by them. Hence a study is done to assess the doctors’ perception about Telemedicine especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic at Basaveshwar teaching and general hospital attached to M R medical college in Kalaburagi City, Karnataka. Aim : To assess the perception of telemedicine among Physicians. 2.To study the utilization of telemedicine during Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods and material: Cross sectional study using Questionnaire based Google form survey answered by 100 doctors at Basaveshwar Teaching and General hospital attached to M R Medical College for a duration of 3 months from July to September 2021.

Results:58 % responded that telemedicine gave desirable results in diagnosis and treatment. 100 % agreed the flow increased during pandemic.98 % agreed that telemedicine is beneficial for their practice. Conclusion: There are benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine but in the present scenario benefits are substantial. Some patients and doctors still like physical examination and not all procedures can be performed online. In cases where patients can’t visit their doctors’ in-person as during pandemic and didn’t require a physical exam, telemedicine can be a good alternative.