Background:
Telehealth is a promising healthcare delivery model that uses telecommunication technologies to improve healthcare access by remotely offering health care services to people with limited access to these services. Due to the lockdown and restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare organizations are now utilizing telehealth systems to remotely provide health care services and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by minimizing physical interactions.
Objective:
To assess the providers’ experience and satisfaction with a telehealth technology “Sehha” being used by physicians during COVID-19, examine the challenges faced by the providers, and identify possible opportunities to improve the use of telehealth in Saudi Arabia.
Method:
With the collaboration of the Saudi Ministry of Health, a 30-item questionnaire consisting of quantitative and qualitative questions was distributed to 362 physicians using the Sehha telehealth app. The questionnaire items were adapted from previous studies and then tested for content validity and reliability (α = 0.88).
Results:
One hundred fourteen out of 362 questionnaires were analyzed with a response rate of 31%. The study showed that 67.6% of the physicians were satisfied with the work they have done through Sehha. Forty-four percent of the physicians preferred telehealth visits over traditional visits, while 35.1% did not prefer telehealth, and 21.1% reported to be neutral. However, the most commonly perceived challenge by the physicians using Sehha was difficulty in providing accurate medical assessments (73.7%), followed by overlapping of consultations (71.1%), while the most frequently cited area of the platform needed for improvement was integration with other systems (86.8%), followed by involvement of other medical specialists (81.6%).
Conclusion:
Telehealth is the new norm of delivering health care service, and its benefits have been realized worldwide. Telehealth can increase access to care, improve the quality of care, and reduce cost. Besides face-to-face visits, health care providers are now embracing telehealth technologies and showing interest in virtual care. Thus, telehealth should remain sustained after the era of COVID-19, and healthcare leaders should reconsider the status of telehealth
