TRANSFORMATION OF TELEMEDICINE PRACTICES THROUGH THE USE OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL EXAM DEVICES: CASE OF GEORGIA

Abstract

In the last decade, digital health has captured special interest of healthcare systems and stakeholders, worldwide. Particularly, in times of COVID-19 pandemics, importance and utilization of telemedicine has increased dramatically. Nevertheless, for the effective utilization of telemedicine services, confidence of medical professionals and acceptance from the side of patients carries critical importance. To achieve same quality of consultation, utilization of digital technologies, such as symptom checkers and multifunctional telemedicine exam kits became increasingly popular in digital health. The purpose of this study is to evaluate usefulness of multifunctional telemedicine exam devices, in scope of perception, attitudes and satisfaction of patients and providers (nurses and doctors). The overall objective is to identify barriers and lessons learned for successful transformation of primary healthcare and implementation of digital health, in developing country contexts. In scope of the study, evaluation pilot has been conducted with duration of five months. For the research purposes qualitative research methods were applied. In particular, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with nurses operating in villages and with doctors providing virtual consultations. Furthermore, in-depth interviews were conducted with patients who received virtual consultations during the pilot project and partners of the project (administrators and coordinators). Overall, thirty-five respondents were surveyed via video/audio call. Convenience sampling was used for the selection of respondent patients and all administrative personnel (six persons) was interviewed. According to the opinions of respondents, multifunctional telemedicine devices improve effectiveness of telemedicine consultation. However, barriers and challenges were also revealed. More specifically, selection of right motivational system for providers, adequate training of involved personnel and well aligned schedules for consultations are needed. Moreover, communication issues (nurse-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient) also represent a challenge and require proper approaches.