Usability of telehealth among healthcare providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To identify the usability of telehealth services and barriers during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic among healthcare providers in Nineveh Governorate-Iraq. Study design: This was a multicenter cross-sectional survey. Methods: We collected the required data from April to July 2022 using self-administered open-ended questionnaires. The healthcare providers were physicians, pharmacists, and nurses with at least six months of services at hospitals. A modified form of the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ) was used to assess the usability of telehealth services. Results: There were 460 healthcare providers, of which 269/460 (58.5%) were users of telehealth services. These were mostly physicians (n = 167/269, 62.1%), nurses (52/269, 19.3%), and pharmacists (n = 50/269, 18.6%), with a p-value of 0.001. During the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians (n = 100/167, 60.0%) and pharmacists (n = 28/50, 56.0%) increased their provision of telehealth services. Approximately 60% of physicians and nurses preferred to provide telehealth services in a synchronized manner. The participants mostly used smartphones to provide telehealth services through Messenger/Facebook and WhatsApp applications, specifically utilizing voice and/or video messages. There was some agreement among the participants (n = 269) regarding the usability of telehealth services. The overall mean score (±SD) was 4.8 (±0.88). The most reported barriers to telehealth services were poor Internet services, the presence of specific diseases, lack of technical comprehension, and insufficient time allocated to the service. Conclusion: Healthcare providers demonstrated a tendency towards the usability of telehealth services. Despite the available barriers, triage collaborations among patients, healthcare providers, and healthcare institutions are needed to achieve more successful adoption of these services.