Accessing patient satisfaction for palliative care outpatient telemedicine services at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Telemedicine has been projected as one way to improve access to palliative care services for patients with serious illness, delivering health care services remotely given a shortage of trained physicians and available specialty services. This technology is being used extensively to improve quality of life of patients needing palliation during unprecedented times of COVID-19 pandemic. However, its efficacy has not been evaluated, specifically in palliative care specialty, where it is instrumental for healthcare access. We aimed to evaluate satisfaction and factors related to satisfaction with telemedicine appointment system and palliative care team during virtual outpatient palliative care telemedicine consultations. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients seen in adult palliative care telemedicine clinics between February 2020 to March 2022 at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. Results A total of 130 participants participated, with a mean age of 63.2 years, n = 61 (47%) males and n = 69 (53%) females. There were n = 76 (58.4%) initial visits and n = 54 (41.5%) follow-ups. 94% of the participants agreed with healthcare access, 92% with the quality of care, 92% with patient-physician interaction, 77% with convenience, 91% wanted to continue teleconsultation and 88% found it cost-effective. Besides this, 46% of participants expressed that they were worried about privacy breach. Conclusion Telemedicine is an innovative approach. Participants find it accessible, cost-effective, convenient and of good quality. In future, it can be implemented and should be promoted in the post pandemic landscape as an effective patient care modality to address enormous unmet needs of patients with functional frailty or living in remote area.