Perceived satisfaction and outcomes from drug information center services provided with a telehealth approach

Abstract

Background and Aim: Telehealth expansion is dependent on the acceptance and satisfaction of the providers and users of the telehealth service and the impact on the overall health-care system. This study was conducted to evaluate the outcome of pharmacist-led telehealth services and satisfaction of their users. Materials and Methods: The telehealth-based drug information center service was an 8-month retrospective, descriptive study that evaluated users' service satisfaction (quality of service), general health outcomes, recommendations, and personal health outcomes by electronically distributing a questionnaire to the users using a Donabedian model approach. Results: The feedback response rate was 87.33% (N = 131). The majority of users were 25-34-year-old young adults, while regarding the background status of the enquirers (health-care worker, medical doctor, nurse, patient, phar macist, practitioner/scientist), 35 (26.7%) pharmacists and 34 (26.0%) patients were the most prevalent users. In terms of service satisfaction and health outcome, medical doctors had the highest mean ratings of 4.67 +/- 0.76 and 4.95 +/- 0.21, respectively. Evaluation of the pharmacist-led telehealth impact was measured with four variables, which showed a statistical significance of P < 0.001 and a highly positive mean rating generally (service satisfaction 4.44 +/- 0.83, general health outcome 4.54 +/- 0.85, personal health outcome 4.80 +/- 0.58, and recommendation 4.85 +/- 0.43). The findings also showed that user satisfaction significantly impacted on personal health outcomes (P < 0.001), and that there was an insignificant relationship between user background status and continents. Conclusions: The study reveals the significant impact of pharmacist-led telehealth services and the importance of incorporating telehealth services into drug information centers.