Impact of Telehealth on patient outcomes
during COVID-19. A case study at Fakeeh
University Hospital Dubai.

ABSTRACT

Topic: Impact of Telehealth on patient outcomes during COVID-19. A case study at Fakeeh University Hospital Dubai
Aim: The main purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of telehealth services during COVID-19 on patient outcomes, particularly during the time frame of the pandemic December 2020 – February 2022 at Fakeeh University Hospital.
Research Objectives: The study consists of three objectives. (1) To determine and compare patient-physician satisfaction levels from teleconsultation before and during the pandemic. (2) To analyze the impact of teleconsultations without physical examination on physician-patient communication during COVID-19 (3) To investigate the influence of telehealth on the number of admissions to hospitals during COVID-19.
Methodology: A retrospective Mixed method approach was used to answer the research questions using data obtained from an online survey and face-to-face interviews with physicians and patients who used telehealth services. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative analysis and Chi-square tests, systematic measures, and risk estimates were used for quantitative analysis. SPSS Version 26 was used for statistical analysis, and a p-value of 0.05 was set statistically significant

Results & Discussion: The sample size of 100 showed a high knowledge about telehealth as related to their satisfaction with telehealth services. Chi-square statistics (p-Value 0.000) showed a significant positive impact on the patient-physician satisfaction level, while there is a significant relationship between the impacts of teleconsultations without physical examination on physician-patient communication (p-Value 0.000) and the strong influence of telehealth on the decreased number of admissions to the hospital during COVID-19 (p-value 0.000)
Conclusion: This study assembled substantial information to analyze the impact of telehealth on patient outcomes during a COVID-19 pandemic and the findings of this study have highlighted the positive impact of using telehealth services on patient outcomes during the COVID-19, however, furth studies are required to see the impact of post- COVID-19 telehealth services

Keywords: Telemedicine, Mental Health, Employee Motivation