Telemedicine – How Does it Work in Practice?

Abstract

IntroductionToday telemedicine is a very popular and rapidly growing area, which allows the treatment, regardless of the distance between the patient and doctor. We present the latest research, conducted amongst polish doctors about the usefulness of telemedicine as a therapeutic tool in different medical specialties.Objectives and aimsThe aim of the study was to examine doctors’ attitude to telemedicine and usefulness of Platform ‘Moneo’ in the therapy of the areas other than psychiatry.MethodsThe first part was the polish telemedical project (grant no. POIG.01.04.00–04–219/12) conducted to assess medical Platform ‘Moneo’. It was based on a questionnaire filled by participants in scale 1 to 5. The second study based on authors’ anonymous questionnaires was distributed amongst 105 psychiatrists from Poland.ResultsEverybody noticed advantages of medical platform. The Platform's functionalities, rated as the best by healthcare directors were: educational materials, appointment and therapy planning. Managers indicated parts, which could be improved in e-prescribing system, the process of collecting information about hospitalizations and operations. Functionalities indicated by doctors as desirable to increase the utility of the platform is e-prescribing system, reporting side effects, planning visits, educational materials. In study addressed to psychiatrists, only 15% of them claimed to have an extensive knowledge on telepsychiatry, but they had confirmed the potential of telemedicine in psychiatry.ConclusionTelemedicine is a useful method, which can improve quality of healthcare services and make an access to it possible for some people. However, lots of improvements in telemedical services are needed to make it an efficient medical tool.

Healthcare professionals' perception and satisfaction with mental health tele-medicine during the COVID-19 outbreak: A real-world experience in telepsychiatry

“…Matching previous studies, TM's satisfaction and efficiency in professionals, including psychiatrists, is high (8). Some gender differences were detected, showing that females are more likely to carry out TM (19) and are more satisfied and adapted when conducting this modality.…”

“…However, it must be carefully analyzed to be considered effective in the future because as experiences in this field are remain limited (6,7), even though they have increased in recent years. Little is known about the subjective perception, satisfaction, and interest in TM of mental health professionals who have conducted it both in a the pre-pandemic context (8) and during the pandemic outbreak (4,5). Knowing professionals' perspectives is valuable since they diagnose and treat diseases based on the resources, they have access to (9)(10)(11).…”

Mobile health for mental health support: a survey of attitudes and concerns among mental health professionals in Poland over the period 2020-2023

“…In recent survey, nine out of ten psychiatrists felt satisfied with telepsychiatry service (51). Previous satisfaction surveys on the use of tele/video consultation by mental health professionals, including those from the beginning of the pandemic, have also shown that this form of contact is well appreciated (32)(33)(34)(52)(53)(54). In this aspect, therefore, the results of our study are in line with those of the previous ones.…”