Perception of Tele-dermatology Consultation among Social Media Users

Abstract

Introduction: Tele-dermatology is significant for faster delivery of health care particularly in geographically isolated areas.

Objectives: To know the perceptions of tele-dermatology consultation among social media users in terms of impact, their willingness to pay for the consultation and the barrier they may have during the consultation.

Materials and Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional study was done on 360 social media users online regarding impact (time and cost), willingness to pay and the barriers of tele-dermatology consultation by using the questionnaire.

Results: Participants believed the services to be time saving (91.7%) and cost effective (89.2%). Majority (70.3%) were willing to pay for services and 30.8% agreed NRs.400 fee and 37.2% agreed NRs.200 fee. Those willing to pay less than NRs 200 felt “services not being 100% reliable (59.3%), OPD price being cheaper (48.1%), saving doctor’s time too (38.3%), Wi-Fi and mobile data also cost (22.2%) and transportation fee could not be accounted to the doctor’s fee (13.6%)”. While participants not willing to pay any money responded as the services not being 100% reliable (60.7%) and preferred to visit OPD for consultation (47.7%) if paying the price. The barrier in using tele-dermatology were dissimilarity from face-to-face interaction, poor networking in rural area, unavailability of physical examination, low camera quality leading to misdiagnosis and not convenient for multiple lesions.

Conclusion: The impact of tele-dermatology in terms of cost and time is appreciable. However, for better service implementation the barriers of the participants, needs to be evaluated