AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightWe concluded that most physicians were aware of telemedicine and they wanted the scenarios to be implemented in common practice.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the socio-demographic characteristics of the family medicine residents in Izmir, their thoughts on telehealth and possible scenarios on this topic. It aims to find a correlation between these variables and to increase awareness of telehealth. 158 physicians, who were doing their family medicine residencies in training & research hospitals and university hospitals in Izmir, took part in our cross-sectional study by answering an online survey. After informing the participants of the study's details, we obtained an informed consent from each volunteer. We applied the survey on socio-demographic and general information about telehealth, which we prepared in alignment with the relevant literature. The participants went through fictionalized scenarios and their input was recorded. 48.1% of the participants were female, 51.9% were male, and the mean age was 28.82±4.53. 76.6% of the participants stated they had heard of telehealth before. According to the replies, radiology was the most common area of telehealth applications with 84.8%, and the telehealth target group was physically disabled with 81.0%. The approval rate of the most accepted scenario was 98.1% (Screening Notification). While the most common benefit of the scenarios was increased access to health care, the most common obstacle was technical prerequisites. We concluded that most physicians were aware of telemedicine and they wanted the scenarios to be implemented in common practice. They stated that they can adapt to scenarios higher than patients. Considering the willingness of physicians to implement telehealth practices, the necessary studies and regulations about telehealth should gain momentum in our country.