BACKGROUND
Telemedicine is representing the future of medical services. It shows many advantages and promising opportunities. It has been tried in different medical specialties. The COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced the establishment of telemedicine services worldwide. Low and middle-income countries such as Egypt are still new to these technologies.
OBJECTIVE
Provide a snapshot of data on the current situation in Egypt and assess its transition towards more integrated telemedicine services from the physicians' perspective.
METHODS
An online and offline questionnaire was filled out by cardiologists from different institutions in Egypt asking about their experience on telemedicine (TM) services in Egypt.
RESULTS
A total of 66 cardiology physicians have fully responded to the questionnaire on telemedicine in Egypt. 57.6% said TM helped with emergent situations. 66.7% of them said lack of integrated assessment tools is a challenge hindering the transition towards TM in Egypt. 95.5% of doctors believe that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the usage of TM. 77.3% of them believe that there should be guidelines and protocols to guide the online consultation process.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the fact this snapshot data has revealed that the Egyptian experience in TM service is far from the standard, it has showed that collaborative effort from all the stakeholders is mandatory. The COVID- 19 pandemic has enhanced the transition process, but some obstacles are still needed to overcome.