Development of a Telemedicine Service Model at Kantharawichai Hospital, Mahasarakham Province.
Keywords:
remote healthcare services, telemedicine, chronic diseases, sub-district health promoting hospital, PDCAAbstract
This action research aimed to develop a telemedicine service model for patients with chronic diseases in the Kantharawichai District health network, Maha Sarakham Province, so that service meet telemedicine servivce standards, access barriers are reduced, and digital health services are expanded. The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle was applied during [1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024]. Patients were triaged at sub-district health promoting hospitals into green, yellow, and red groups; yellow- and red-group patients received teleconsultations with physicians, whereas green-group patients received medication at home through village health volunteer riders.
Among six sub-district health promoting hospitals without on-site physicians, 60 patients with chronic diseases were served: 20 (33.33%) used telemedicine and 40 (66.67%) received medication at home. Staffing outside the hospital decreased from four to two or three persons per outreach session (The physician still served remotely). The overall mean satisfaction across all items was 88.46% (high level); the staff dimension scored highest (92.50%) and the service process dimension lowest (83.99%). Reported problems included unstable network connections, limited trust in health station screening results, incomplete coverage of village health volunteer riders, and limitations in remote physical examination. Staff training, standardized equipment, multi-system examination devices, and extended service schedules for temples are recommended.
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