Perception of telemedicine among medical practitioners in Malaysia during COVID-19
Authors: Thong How Kit ,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Medicine, KPJ Healthcare University College, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Kit Chung Wong Danny ,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Medicine, KPJ Healthcare University College, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Gendeh Hardip Singh ,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saim Lokman ,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Medicine, KPJ Healthcare University College, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, KPJ Tawakal Specialist Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Athar Primuharsa Putra Bin Sabir Husin ,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Medicine, KPJ Healthcare University College, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, KPJ Seremban Specialist Hospital, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Saim Aminuddin ,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Medicine, KPJ Healthcare University College, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia,   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia,   Aminuddin Saim, Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Senior Consultant, Pediatric Otolaryngologist, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, 1, Jalan Mamanda 9, Taman Dato Ahmad Razali, 68000 Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: aminuddin_saim@yahoo.com
Published: October 2021

The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought unprecedented changes in the way conventional health care is delivered. This study examined if clinicians’ perceptions regarding telemedicine and its barriers to implementation in Malaysia have changed during this pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Malaysian medical doctors of various specialties in four urban healthcare facilities between June 2020 and July 2020. A total of 146 (41.7%) out of 350 responses were obtained. 62% of doctors reported a reduction greater than 50% in outpatient visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of doctors either found telemedicine useful in situations similar to COVID-19 (34.2%) or that it is essential to their daily practice (42.5%). However, only 22% reported using telemedicine for consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 74% of doctors felt that telemedicine would only benefit up to 30% of their patient population. Significantly more female doctors (80%) felt that telemedicine would benefit their patients compared to male doctors (45.8%) (P=0.03). Physicians (51.3%) were more inclined to adopt telemedicine in comparison to surgeons (32.4%) (P=0.03). The majority cited medico-legal issues and consent (80.6%), billing and charges (66.7%) and insurance reimbursement (62.5%), technical difficulties (62.5%) as their barrier to the adoption of telemedicine. Female doctors and physicians were more willing to adopt telemedicine when compared to male doctors and surgeons. Although the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to improve the perception, significant barriers should be resolved before many can incorporate it into their practice.