Volume 26, Issue 123, May 2022

Phone consultation during COVID-19 in the outpatient clinic at King Khalid University Hospital: What can we infer from this exciting experience for future practice?

Sulaiman Alshammari^1♦, Naif Alalshaikh², Ziyad Alhosan², Yazeed Alghtani², Khalid Alkublan², Mohamed Alquhidan²

¹Department of Family and Community Medicine College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Professor and Consultant of Family Medicine; Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2925, Riyadh, 1146, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To evaluate patients' satisfaction with phone consultation in KKUH during COVID-19 and to identify the advantages and limitations of phone consultation. Methods: Researchers conducted this analytical cross-sectional study between March 2020 and March 2021. Stratified systematic sampling was employed to recruit the patients randomly who had a phone consultation experience in the outpatient clinic at KKUH in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition, all patients who received at least one phone consultation received an online validated questionnaire. The data collected consisted of demographic characteristics, level of satisfaction, advantages and disadvantages, and future attitudes toward phone consultation. Results: Overall, 307 patients completed the questionnaire; 51.8% were male, 79.8% were ≥40 years old, 73.0% were married, and 43.0% had a university degree. The patients' overall satisfaction with virtual clinics was 58.6%. Age group ≥40 years and married status were statistically significant favorable satisfaction with a phone consultation p-value < 0.02 and 0.03 respectively. Most participants 54.7% thought that the best advantage of phone consultation is accessibility. However, the inability to meet the healthcare professional face-to-face was reported by 56.1% as the most important disadvantage. Conclusion: The majority of KKUH patients 60% were satisfied with phone consultations. The positive satisfactions were associated with older age group and being married. Therefore, whenever feasible, phone consultation should promote access to health care services, especially for individuals who may find difficulty in a face-to-face consultation. This strategy would save patients time, reduce follow-up time, and allow more patients to be served.

Keywords: Covid-19, phone consultation, patients’ satisfaction, advantage of phone consultation, disadvantages of phone consultations.

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms190e2271

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i123/ms190e2271

Published: 23 May 2022