코로나19 대응을 위해 한시적으로 허용된 전화상담·처방에 대한 병원급 의료공급자 인식과 만족도에 관한 연구

Abstract

Background: As of February 24th, 2020, teleconsultation using telephone was temporarily allowed to respond coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This is the first case allowing teleconsultation between patients and healthcare providers and they came to experience telemedicine despite its temporary allowance during the COVID-19. Methods: This study was conducted to examine the acceptance and satisfaction of healthcare providers at hospitals on the teleconsultation program. For doing it, we adopted the focus group interview and individual in-depth interview with healthcare providers on experiences and acceptance to teleconsultation. Results: In general, healthcare providers presented low acceptance to teleconsultations due to concerns mainly on safety and effectiveness. However, it is notable that healthcare providers presented greater acceptance to teleconsultations when they were provided a guideline from an organization that they worked for regarding the type of patients whom teleconsultation can be offered, clear procedure of reservations and check-in for teleconsultations, days of supply for prescription, and receipt of prescriptions than those without a guideline. Conclusion: The finding from the study suggested that a teleconsultation program needs to be systemized with guidelines on the situation, the scope, and a target population, such as the elderly population, established relationship between patients and doctors, and the place of provision and reception of teleconsultation. It is also important to streamline procedures for the provision of teleconsultations. For delivering teleconsultations in a more effective and safe way, the adoption of telecommunication technologies enabling visual explanations and observation should be considered as the telephone is the most limited mode of delivering teleconsultation. Last but not least, monitoring and evaluation of teleconsultation should be implemented to improve patient safety and quality of care.