Timetable Chart: Understanding Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions of Telehealth Systems

Ease of use is a crucial factor in determining the adoption and utilization of digital health technologies, including telehealth systems. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in understanding healthcare professionals' perceptions of telehealth systems, particularly with regards to their usability and satisfaction.

A systematic review was conducted to assess the evidence on healthcare professionals' perceptions of the usability of telehealth systems in primary care settings for individuals with hypertension and diabetes since the COVID-19 pandemic. The review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the available literature on this topic, including both quantitative and qualitative studies.

The search strategy employed included querying multiple electronic databases, such as MEDLINE, Embase, BIREME, IEEE Xplore, BVS, Google Scholar, and grey literature. Additionally, titles, abstracts, and full texts were reviewed to identify relevant studies that met the eligibility criteria.

The inclusion criteria for this review were health professionals who use telehealth systems, are based in primary care settings, manage patients with hypertension and diabetes, and have experience using telehealth systems since the COVID-19 pandemic onward. The review included a total of 417 retrieved studies, from which 248 healthcare professionals with previous experience in telehealth for hypertension and diabetes were analyzed.

The primary outcome measure was the usability of telehealth systems, while secondary outcomes included satisfaction and the contexts in which the telehealth system was used. Data extraction was performed to provide a narrative qualitative evidence synthesis of the included articles, and risk-of-bias assessments were completed accordingly.

The results of this review suggest that healthcare professionals generally considered the usability of telehealth systems to be good and felt comfortable using them for patients with hypertension and diabetes in primary care settings. However, further research is needed to better understand the complexities of telehealth system usability from a healthcare professional's perspective.

Overall, this systematic review provides valuable insights into healthcare professionals' perceptions of telehealth systems and highlights the importance of considering ease of use when implementing digital health technologies in primary care settings.

Timetable chart