International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 SJIF (2019): 7.583 Volume 9 Issue 10, October 2020 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Telemedicine Preferences of Healthcare Professionals in India during the COVID-19 Pandemic Aasawari Nalgundwar 1 , Meghna Aggarwal Singhania 2 , Pawan Kulkarni 3 , Mayur Shinde 4 1 MD, PGDHA, MBBS, Assistant Professor (Healthcare), Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai, India 2 MSc (Economics), CEO/Editor-In-Chief, Medical Dialogues, New Delhi, India 3 BSc, PGDM, General Manager, Corporate Strategy, J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mumbai, India 4 B Pharm, Student of PGDM Healthcare at Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research Abstract: Teleconsultations by Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) became an important mode of healthcare delivery during COVID 19 pandemic. This study was conducted to characterize preferences of HCPs towards telemedicine. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted on 211 HCPs. During lockdown period, there was fall in physical consultations and increase in teleconsultations. Majority preferred WhatsApp, Phone and Zoom calls. Sentiment analysis showed 42% positive insights, 26% neutral responses and 32% negative responses stating that telemedicine has limited scope and is difficult to use due to factors such as difficulty in diagnosis, examination etc. Addressing these issues can indeed make telemedicine the mode for future. Keywords: Telemedicine, Teleconsultations, COVID 19 pandemic, Healthcare Professionals 1. Introduction “Tele” is a Greek word meaning “distance “and “mederi” is a Latin word meaning “to heal”. Telemedicine is the use of electronic information technologies to communicate for providing and supporting healthcare when distance separates the participants [1]. The first half of the 20 th century saw the earliest published record of telemedicine, when ECG was transmitted over telephone lines [2]. A lot has progressed in the field of science and technology since then. There has been rapid development in the field of telemedicine, especially in the healthcare sector. Delivery of healthcare services, and the use of technology for providing this effective delivery, determines an important step towards affordable and easily accessible high-quality healthcare. Telemedicine can also act as an effective tool to bridge the gap between the health needs of people residing in remote and rural areas who have limited access to healthcare services. It is estimated that India as a country could save up to $10 billion as well as improve care for the poor and those living in remote areas if telemedicine replaced 30 to 40 percent of in-person outpatient consultations [3].Also, this information, if stored as Electronic Health Records (EHR) can provide a complete medical history of patients. These records will lay foundation for Evidence Based Medicine and Medical research. However, the potential of telemedicine has yet not been fully explored and utilised, especially in the Indian medical scenario. There have been various reasons attributed to this. Lack of awareness, fear of security and privacy, issues with authenticity of provided information and lack of clarity on telemedicine guidelines were few of the barriers in the growth and adoption of telemedicine by both patients as well as doctors. On 11 th March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 as a pandemic [4]. To combat this pandemic and interrupt the transmission of infection, the world saw a massive lockdown in the history of mankind. In India, lockdown was implemented in various states of India from 24 th March 2020 to 31 st May 2020 by the Government of India [5]. This led to restriction on movement of the 1.3 billion population of India. People faced several challenges in the availability of various essential services, especially the one related to healthcare. During this period, routine healthcare check-ups and the doctor visits were affected phenomenally. The difficulty was more for the geriatric population of India. Teleconsultations by Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) became an important mode of delivery of these healthcare services. Many patients as well as their family members own smartphones and increasing number of households now possess better internet connectivity. This was big enabler for teleconsultations which were looked upon as a cost-effective mode of delivery of services. Furthermore, in the pandemic scenario; teleconsultations ensured safety of both the patients as well as Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) against COVID infection. Indeed, on 25 th March 2020, immediately after declaration of lockdown, the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines were issued by Government of India, in partnership with Niti Aayog, to enable and encourage the use of telemedicine by Healthcare professionals [6]. Paper ID: SR201026144104 DOI: 10.21275/SR201026144104 1651