Role of Telemedicine in Follow-up Care of Children with Respiratory Illnesses at a Tertiary Care Hospital — An Ambispective Observational Study

OBJECTIVE: To assess if telemedicine can be used successfully for follow-up care of children with respiratory illnesses. The authors also assessed problems faced by the doctors and satisfaction of caregivers of these patients with telemedicine. METHODS: The authors conducted an ambispective observational study. Data related to demographic details and diagnoses of patients who had telemedicine consultation (teleconsultation) appointments between 2nd April 2020 to 15th May 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. They noted proportion of patients having successful prescription. To assess problems faced by doctors and satisfaction of caregiver of patients with teleconsultation, a prospective questionnaire was sent via Google Forms 6–10 wk after the initial appointment date. Those who did not respond to Google Forms were called by phone to assess the same. RESULTS: A total of 188 patients received teleconsultation during the study period. Team was able to prescribe treatment in 181 (96.3%) patients via teleconsultation and other seven (3.7%) required physical evaluation. Mean (SD) age of patients was 9.7 (4.9) y, range 3 mo to 18 y. There were 117 (62.2%) boys and 71 (37.8%) girls. Majority (58%) of the patients were asthmatics. The team advised refill prescription in 83% patients as symptoms were controlled. Three out of five residents faced minor problems while providing teleconsultation. In satisfaction assessment, 78% of caregivers rated teleconsultation 8 or more, out of 10 points, suggesting that most of them were satisfied with telemedicine. CONCLUSION: In majority of children with respiratory illnesses, successful follow-up care can be provided by telemedicine. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12098-020-03590-8.