Perception of telemedicine by patients and physicians as a mode of interaction in the provision of medical care

BACKGROUND: The digital transformation of healthcare is a strategic direction of sectoral development. At the same time, issues related to the provision of medical care under the new conditions of a virtual model, as well as the the behavioral features of patients and physicians in the process of providing medical services using remote technologies, remain relevant for study.

AIM: The work aimed to assess the perception of telemedicine by patients and physicians residing in urban and rural areas as a mode of their interaction in the provision of medical care.

METHODS: The study was conducted in medical organizations of the Nizhny Novgorod Region using author-designed questionnaires administered to patients and physicians. A total of 507 patients and 202 physicians participated in the study.

RESULTS: Most patients in all groups were willing to interact remotely with a physician during medical care and believed that telemedicine consultations should develop both in the “physician–patient” and “physician–physician” formats. However, 31.1% ± 4.9% of patients in an urban hospital and 25.0% ± 3.0% of patients in a central district hospital considered telemedicine consultations possible only in the physician–physician format. Among parents bringing children to pediatric outpatient clinics, this proportion was significantly lower—15.8% ± 2.7%.

Similar to the patients, more than half of physicians (57.8% ± 3.5%) believed that telemedicine consultations should develop both in the physician–patient and physician–physician formats. At the same time, only 5.0% ± 1.5% of physicians considered the physician–patient format a priority, whereas 27.4% ± 2.0% of patients shared this view. The χ² test showed an age-related effect on the perception of telemedicine in both patients (χ² = 18.452; p = 5.196 × 10⁻³) and physicians (χ² = 13.804; p = 0.03191).

CONCLUSION: The findings confirm the readiness of both patients and physicians, regardless of place of residence, to use telemedicine. However, age should be taken into account when implementing telemedicine. Respondents aged 60 years and older expressed greater willingness for digital visits compared with those aged 40–59 years.