Healthcare Providers' Perspective about the Use of Telemedicine in Egypt: A National Survey

Mohamed Alboraie¹, Mohammad Abdalgaber², Naglaa Youssef^{3

4}, Inas Moaz⁵, Nermeen Abdeen⁶, Hazem Maarouf Abosheaishaa⁷, Mina Tharwat Shokry⁸, Fathiya El-Raey⁹, Sabry Shaaban Asfour¹⁰, Waleed A Abdeldayem¹¹, Adel Ahmed Hassan¹², Essam Eldeen M O Mahran¹³, Mohammed Tag-Adeen¹⁴, Omar Elshaarawy¹⁵, Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan¹¹, Ahmed Altonbary¹⁶, Yasser Fouad¹⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
² Gastroenterology Department, Police Authority Hospital, Egypt.
³ Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
⁴ Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
⁶ Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁷ Egyptian Ministry of Health, Cairo, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt.
⁹ Department of Hepatogastroenterology and Infectious Diseases, Al-Azhar University, Damietta, Egypt.
¹⁰ Matrouh General Hospital, Matrouh, Egypt.
¹¹ Department of Tropical Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
¹² Infectious and Endemic Disease Department, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
¹³ Department of Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
¹⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Qena Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
¹⁵ Hepatology and Gastroenterology Department, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Egypt.
¹⁶ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
¹⁷ Endemic Medicine Department, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.

PMID: 35313723
PMCID: PMC8934233
DOI: 10.1155/2022/3811068

Healthcare Providers' Perspective about the Use of Telemedicine in Egypt: A National Survey

Mohamed Alboraie et al. Int J Telemed Appl. 2022.

. 2022 Mar 12:2022:3811068.

doi: 10.1155/2022/3811068. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
² Gastroenterology Department, Police Authority Hospital, Egypt.
³ Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
⁴ Medical-Surgical Nursing Department, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
⁶ Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁷ Egyptian Ministry of Health, Cairo, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt.
⁹ Department of Hepatogastroenterology and Infectious Diseases, Al-Azhar University, Damietta, Egypt.
¹⁰ Matrouh General Hospital, Matrouh, Egypt.
¹¹ Department of Tropical Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
¹² Infectious and Endemic Disease Department, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
¹³ Department of Tropical Medicine and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
¹⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Qena Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
¹⁵ Hepatology and Gastroenterology Department, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Egypt.
¹⁶ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
¹⁷ Endemic Medicine Department, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.

PMID: 35313723
PMCID: PMC8934233
DOI: 10.1155/2022/3811068

Abstract

Incorporation of telemedicine in general clinical practice is becoming a compelling need nowadays in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent burdens on the healthcare systems. Though telemedicine appears to be appealing and carries a lot of advantages, yet it is still faced by many challenges and barriers especially in developing countries. Our aim was to explore the impression of healthcare providers about telemedicine and its applicability in clinical practice in Egypt. A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare providers from different Egyptian governorates through a web-based survey. The survey gathered information about demographic, socioeconomic features of the enrolled healthcare participants; their knowledge, previous experience, impression about telemedicine, advantages of telemedicine over traditional medical services, barriers that may face telemedicine, and additional services that can be provided by telemedicine were also explored. Our study enrolled 642 healthcare providers from all over Egypt, 43.77% were females, of which 55.5% were physicians, 27.3% were nurses, 6.1% were technicians, 7.6% were administrative clerks, and 3.6% were medical directors. Sixty-four percent of participants reported that they have never used telemedicine. Smartphones were the most commonly used mean in the group who used telemedicine (65%), and smartphone applications were the favorable telemedicine service for about 50% of participants. Participants assumed that the use of telemedicine might not have a negative effect on the doctor-patient relationship but raised some concerns regarding the privacy and security of patients' data. Despite the fact that telemedicine appears to be appealing and widely accepted by healthcare providers, yet still, its implementation is confronted by some obstacles. Precise organizational guidelines need to be developed to clearly figure out the exact role of each healthcare provider to minimize their doubtfulness about telemedicine and to facilitate its adoption.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Extra services for remote medical services.

**Figure 2**
Extra services for remote nursing services.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Healthcare Providers' Perspective about the Use of Telemedicine in Egypt: A National Survey

Affiliations

Healthcare Providers' Perspective about the Use of Telemedicine in Egypt: A National Survey

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources