COVID 19 : a boost for telemedicine

Abstract

With the continuously expanding pandemic of COVID‑19 and the need for attending non-COVID patients in a lockdown state, most healthcare institutions in the Greater Male’ area chose telemedicine as a route to consult patients. Being a necessity in the time of this crisis; this is the first time in the history of the Maldives that teleconsultations were conducted comprehensively. Although most healthcare institutions were not ready for such an endeavour, they were quick to use available social media tools to introduce teleconsultations. Aasandha; the National insurance scheme; gave this approach a boost when it accepted teleconsultations as a covered form of consultation. Medica Hospital, to find out the feasibility and resultant patient satisfaction of teleconsultations, conducted a patient satisfaction survey on patients accessing their services in May 2020. From the 706 consultations done among eight specialities, ninety patients were contacted for this survey. Sixty-three per cent were very satisfied with the service, and all participants were happy to continue utilising teleconsultations from Medica Hospital after the COVID‑19 pandemic is over. It is apparent from this survey that patients accept telemedicine as a viable technology for responding to patient needs during emergencies, and is likely to remain acceptable as a way of consultation in the new norm as well.