Gupta Pramendra Prasad, Bhatta Narendra, Das Rakesh Kumar, Bhattarai Anish, Sarraf Deependra Prasad, Geissbuhler Antoine
Department of General Practice and Emergency Medicine, Medical Coordinator, eHealth and Telemedicine Program, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Focal Person, eHealth and Telemedicine Program, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2024 Nov;13(11):5282-5285. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_980_24. Epub 2024 Nov 18.
Telemedicine provides a means to deliver healthcare across distances, enhancing efficiency and accessibility, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted its importance by reducing the risk of virus transmission while maintaining healthcare delivery. This study evaluates the telemedicine program implemented at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Nepal, which provided specialist services to remote districts via teleconsultation during the 2020 lockdown. The objectives were to identify the number of patients, the major complaints, and the follow-up departments during teleconsultation.
A retrospective analysis was conducted on teleconsultation data from March 1 to August 31, 2020, across various outpatient departments at BPKIHS. Data from 10,901 patients were reviewed, with variables including age, gender, residence, and consultation medium. Descriptive statistics were calculated using SPSS (version 22).
Most of the patients (55.46%) were female, and the majority (30.84%) aged 21-30 years. Most consultations were from the Sunsari district (54.8%) and Koshi state (88.9%). Voice calls were the primary medium (39.62%), followed by WhatsApp video calls (30.08%). Obstetrics and gynecology had the highest consultation rate (16.15%), followed by dermatology (14.4%) and psychiatry (10.37%). Nearly half of the patients (45.0%) had follow-up consultations, primarily for dermatological issues (17.85%).
The findings underscore telemedicine's role in facilitating healthcare access, particularly for women and residents of remote areas, by reducing travel and exposure risks. This study highlights the need for further integration of telehealth technologies to enhance healthcare delivery, suggesting that teleconsultation can efficiently meet healthcare demands in resource-limited settings during and beyond pandemics.
远程医疗提供了一种跨越距离提供医疗服务的方式，提高了效率并增强了可及性，尤其是在低收入和中等收入国家。2019冠状病毒病大流行通过降低病毒传播风险同时维持医疗服务的提供凸显了其重要性。本研究评估了尼泊尔BP柯伊拉腊健康科学研究所（BPKIHS）实施的远程医疗项目，该项目在2020年封锁期间通过远程会诊为偏远地区提供专科服务。目的是确定远程会诊期间的患者数量、主要投诉以及后续跟进科室。
对2020年3月1日至8月31日期间BPKIHS各门诊科室的远程会诊数据进行回顾性分析。审查了10901名患者的数据，变量包括年龄、性别、居住地和会诊方式。使用SPSS（版本22）计算描述性统计数据。
大多数患者（55.46%）为女性，大多数（30.84%）年龄在21至30岁之间。大多数会诊来自孙萨里县（54.8%）和科希省（88.9%）。语音通话是主要方式（39.62%），其次是WhatsApp视频通话（30.08%）。妇产科会诊率最高（16.15%），其次是皮肤科（14.4%）和精神病科（10.37%）。近一半的患者（45.0%）进行了后续会诊，主要是针对皮肤科问题（17.85%）。
研究结果强调了远程医疗在促进医疗服务可及性方面的作用，特别是对妇女和偏远地区居民，通过减少出行和暴露风险。本研究强调需要进一步整合远程健康技术以加强医疗服务提供，表明远程会诊在大流行期间及之后能够有效地满足资源有限环境下的医疗需求。
