Knowledge, Perception, and Willingness of Telemedicine Among Healthcare Professionals in Government Postgraduate Homoeopathic Institutes in West Bengal, India: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract Background and Purpose: The Telemedicine division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has set up a National Telemedicine Portal for implementing a green field project on e-health establishing a National Medical College Network for interlinking the Medical Colleges across the country with the purpose of e-Education and a National Rural Telemedicine Network for e-Healthcare delivery. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception of telemedicine and its applications among homeopathy healthcare professionals, and to evaluate their willingness towards adopting telemedicine in clinical practice. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional e-survey was conducted in three postgraduate government homeopathic medical colleges in West Bengal, India, in July 2020. The study questionnaire, designed using Google Forms, was formulated based on previously published research articles and Telemedicine Practice Guidelines by the Central Council of Homoeopathy. The questionnaire consisted of three parts – access to a computer and its literacy, knowledge, perceptions, and willingness of telemedicine. Results: The survey response rate was 71.8%. Inadequate awareness (40.9%) and knowledge (44.9%) were reported about telemedicine technology among the teaching faculty. The level of perception of telemedicine as a viable approach for providing medical care services to patients was agreed upon by a few participants (15.8%). willingness to provide consultation using telemedicine was low (10.5%). About 56.3% of participants reported very less number of orientation programs were held regarding telemedicine technology in workplaces. Significantly high numbers of participants (41.7%) reported that continuous training regarding the use of telemedicine is required ( P = 0.024). Patients privacy, lack of suitable training, and lack of communication between information technology experts and clinicians were the major hurdles in adopting telemedicine. Conclusions: Although the majority of health professional’s familiarity and knowledge regarding telemedicine is limited and their perception and willingness to practice telemedicine with the notion to implement it for health education, counseling, and treatment are unimpressive, the desire to get trained seemed compromised.