Intern Med J. 2022 Mar 15. doi: 10.1111/imj.15750. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Telehealth was widely adopted in health services during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is unknown what the attitudes and ongoing needs of healthcare staff are after a rapid implementation of telehealth.
AIMS: To evaluate staff attitudes to telehealth utilisation after a rapid implementation.
METHODS: A health service-wide bespoke survey was sent to all clinicians, managers, and administration staff in June-July 2021. We evaluated attitudes to (i) telehealth application in the model of care and (ii) the barriers and enablers to use of telehealth. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative data, and content analysis for the textual data.
RESULTS: A hundred and thirty-four respondents completed the survey (response rate = 22.5% of healthdirect users (71/315), and = 3.2% of total healthcare staff population). Most commonly, telehealth was identified as being important (78%) and safe (79%) by clinicians; important (100%) and encouraged (88%) by managers. In contrast, telehealth was identified as not the same as face-to-face (56%, 50%); but easy to add to usual work arrangements (43%, 44%) by clinicians and managers, respectively. The most common enablers of telehealth were: (i) having others use the same telehealth platform (74.3%, 100%), and (ii) completing training (68.9%, 72.7%) by clinicians and managers, respectively. The most common barriers were having (i) reliable internet connectivity (39.2%, 45.5%) by clinicians and managers respectively, (ii) the right equipment (clinician 37.8%), and (iii) a private area (managers 36.3%).
CONCLUSIONS: Despite training and having support from colleagues to implement telehealth, ongoing needs were identified that may promote uptake in specific health settings. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
PMID:35289486 | DOI:10.1111/imj.15750
