[USE OF DIGITAL SERVICES IN A PRIMARY CARE CLINIC IN THE BEDOUIN SECTOR IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL]

"Digital Health" includes a variety of health services delivered through technological means, such as: booking an appointment, talking to a doctor, viewing personal information and more. The use of digital services in Clalit Health Services (CHS) clinics in the Bedouin sector is low compared to the general sector.

To examine the usage of digital services, the characteristics of users, and the barriers to use it among patients from the Bedouin sector at the Segev Shalom Clinic of CHS.

A cross-sectional study among visitors to the CHS Segev Shalom clinic, aged 18-65 years during the period 17.05.2023-31.05.2023). The clinic's members belong to the Bedouin sector and have a low socioeconomic level. About 50% of the clinic's members live around the settlement of Segev Shalom. The visitors were interviewed using a structured research questionnaire that examined the use and barriers to use of telehealth services among the Arab population in Israel.

A total of 196 clinic visitors were interviewed. Of these, 37.3% were males, average age 34.5±11.2 years and 58% live in a permanent settlement. About 44% of the respondents do not book a doctor appointment in advance but come to the clinic when necessary; 38.8% book an appointment by phone, and only 16.8% book an appointment through digital services. The main reason for not using digital services (80.5% of respondents) was lack of knowledge on how to use the service. In a logistic regression model for predicting patients who will not make a doctor's appointment in advance, it was found that the influential factors are: gender (male) (OR=1.92, (p=0.04), age in years (OR=1.03, p=0.01), little/very little consent that fast service can be obtained via digital services (OR=2.24, p=0.02) and smartphone ownership (OR=0.08, p=0.02).

Among the study population, there is a lack of awareness of digital services and a lack of knowledge of its operation. Work should be taken to raise awareness and knowledge in a variety of ways at the clinic level, the community level and the sector level.