Digital Health for Breast Care: Patient Satisfaction and Reducing Disparities through Telemedicine

Virtual teleconsultation plays a pivotal role in managing diseases requiring long-term communication between patients and treatment teams, such as breast diseases. The Ruban Virtual Breast Clinic in Iran offers teleconsultation services focusing on nonurgent chronic complaints through offline messaging. This study aimed to evaluate patient satisfaction with these teleconsultation services.

A comprehensive questionnaire was designed with three sections: identifying the individual interacting with the clinic and prior teleconsultation use; collecting demographic data and reasons for consultation; and assessing satisfaction using 16 items rated on a Likert scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). The study included patients who received at least one consultation by a breast surgeon through the Ruban platform.

Of 583 eligible cases, 367 (62.9%) consented to participate. The average satisfaction score was 91.6 out of 100, indicating a high level of patient satisfaction.

The high satisfaction rates suggest that telehealth services, particularly virtual consultations, are feasible and highly acceptable in meeting patients' healthcare needs. These findings underscore telehealth's potential to improve access to care, though further research is required to establish its clinical effectiveness.