Japan Association for Medical Informatics

[AP2-E2-2-04] A Survey of Patient Opinion on the Role of Telehealth in Sri Lanka

*Gumindu G.A.K Kulatunga1, Roshan H. Hewapathirana2, Rohana Basil Marasingha3, Vajira H.W. Dissanayake2 (1. Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 3. Faculty of Medical Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka)

Consumer Informatics, Health Informatics, Healthcare Services, Sri Lanka, Telehealth

Telehealth is one of the world’s fastest-growing healthcare sectors. Its growth has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ageing populations with chronic diseases are highly susceptible to COVID19 and were encouraged to receive remote healthcare. For a telehealth programme to sustain, it should be designed and implemented to cater to the community telehealth requirements in any situation. The main objective of this study was to assess the attitudes of Sri-Lankan telehealth consumers/patients. Characteristics of consumers registered with telehealth service providers were studied using a web-based trilingual voluntary self-administrated questionnaire. Results from 235 respondents were analysed. Average age of the consumer was 35.4 years (SD+/-10.6). Only 5 % were above 60 years. Average consumer age was similar to other countries. Majority were males (77%) compared to high female predominance in other countries. Only 79% had previous personal user experience in telehealth. 71% of them were residing near the capital. Overall consumer satisfaction was 61% with a score of 3.88 which were comparably low. Majority 71% agreed it helped to save travel time and waiting time. 71% agreed that the ability to get an internet-based prescription is very important and 46% used the service to obtain medication for chronic diseases similar to the global trends. Only 56% claimed that they were able to reduce health expenditure by using the service. However, about 69% of those who had used the service were willing to reuse it. Telehealth is not popular amoung the elderly and the females. Overall telehealth client benefits were average compared to the needs. The elderly population and rural community who are unable to travel and need long term treatment must be empowered to use telehealth. More are likely to embrace telehealth once particular features are provided.