Aligning practitioner's perception: Empowering MAST framework for evaluating telemedicine services

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Technology
• Digital Health
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Telemedicine adoption surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as a digital alternative to in-person healthcare.
• The Model for Assessment of Telemedicine requires evaluation for enhanced effectiveness and scope.
• Assessing telemedicine compatibility is crucial for its successful integration into healthcare systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate telemedicine compatibility from the perspective of healthcare practitioners.
• To enhance the Model for Assessment of Telemedicine by incorporating practitioner insights.
• To identify key factors influencing telemedicine adoption and effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was administered to 248 healthcare practitioners.
• Participants were purposively sampled from telemedicine portals in the public sector.
• Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and Monte Carlo Feature Selection.

Main Results:

• Healthcare practitioner perception significantly influences telemedicine compatibility.
• Key factors include integration with the healthcare system, patient facilitation, technology ease, capacity building, ethical integrity, outcome assessment, and communication.
• Patient satisfaction, resource preservation, practitioner satisfaction, digital connectivity, user-friendliness, and patient safety were identified as highly important variables.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare practitioner perception and its associated variables are critical for determining telemedicine compatibility.
• These factors exhibit interdependencies and multifaceted interactions that influence system integration.
• The findings recommend incorporating practitioner perception into the Model for Assessment of Telemedicine framework.