THE OPPORTUNITIES OF TELEMEDICINE IN BULGARIA IN THE CONDITIONS OF COVID-19 – A SURVEY

ABSTRACT

In times of global pandemic, telemedicine is emerging as an effective and sustainable solution to stop the spread of COVID-19. The aim of this article is to study the public attitudes towards the application of telemedicine in Bulgaria in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods: To study the public attitudes for the application of telemedicine in a pandemic, 253 people were interviewed voluntarily and anonymously. We used our own tools – a questionnaire distributed online. Statistical data processing was performed using IBM SPSS v. 23. Results: Respondents with higher education and healthcare workers were more distrustful of health information on the Internet. Over 75% of the respondents stated that they would use remote medical services for consultation with a medical professional in case of a health problem, and nearly 59% of them would pay for remote medical services for consultation and/or monitoring of treatment. The issuance of an electronic referral, an electronic sick leave form and an electronic prescription could limit the spread of COVID-19 according to 77.4% of them. Almost ¾ of our respondents would install a mobile application to contact a doctor in case of emergency. The preferred means of consulting a medical professional in the current pandemic is a telephone conversation. Conclusion: Telemedicine is essential to ensure that patients have access to medical care. In times of global public health emergency, health systems must rely on remote medical examinations and electronic prescriptions to deal with the further spread of the disease.