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The Covid-19 pandemic and technological advancement in healthcare delivery have introduced telemedicine in prenatal care. It might seem that telemedicine is here to stay and in a few years, will become a major approach in delivering health care to pregnant women.
With telemedicine, expecting mothers receive consistent and necessary care via videoconferencing, at-home monitoring, and consultation with remote specialists. These were said to improve health outcomes while allowing for less frequent antenatal visits.
However, certain challenges may affect the use and outcome of telemedicine to provide care to patients. Below are perceived barriers to telemedicine in prenatal care.
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Several factors affect the use and health outcomes of telemedicine. Patients and healthcare providers alike play a significant role in the provision and delivery. However, other non-human factors exist which may affect the successful outcome of virtual visits and at-home monitoring.
The following are perceived barriers to telemedicine in prenatal care:
Poor internet connection and slow speed result in loss of connection, poor audio and video quality, hence affecting the smooth interaction between patients and providers. Due to poor signal, online consultations can experience multiple interruptions leading to frustration, low patient satisfaction, and reduced use of the virtual approach to healthcare delivery.
In some cases, factors such as weather conditions, living in rural areas, and home interior can affect the network service in homes and workplaces, hence reducing the frequency, duration, and efficiency of virtual visits for healthcare delivery.
Lack of technological knowledge and skills is a challenge to the use and success of telemedicine in prenatal care. Unfamiliarity with communication technology is common to both patients and providers.
Healthcare providers who have little to no knowledge on how to use communication technology may not want to take up online consultations.
Likewise, patients may find it difficult to install and navigate the telemedicine software on their digital devices. In other cases, patients lack knowledge and training on how to use certain monitoring devices. Hence, they may find it difficult or impossible to interact and provide adequate information during online consultations.
The lack of certain equipment and instruments poses a challenge to the success of telemedicine in prenatal care. Some patients may not have certain instruments such as a fetoscope, weighing scale, sphygmomanometer, amongst others, resulting in non-availability of data to work with.
Consequently, this can lead to poor monitoring which may affect health outcomes of prenatal care via telemedicine.
While patients may enjoy convenience at home, they may be faced with discussing health concerns at the risk of being heard by family members and friends.
In-person visits provide the privacy of the doctor's office which may not be possible with audio and video calls from the homes of patients. This may affect the use of telemedicine in providing and accessing prenatal care.
In other cases, the patient may feel their conversations are being recorded and hence, lose trust in both the service and the healthcare provider.
Telemedicine switches up the order of the conventional hospital visit. The presence of family members, children, colleagues, and other persons may make engagement difficult. Activities in the background may cause distraction during virtual visits.
On the other hand, certain patients may feel disconnected due to a lack of social presence and physical contact with their healthcare provider. The online interaction may be alien to some patients and affect their ability to bond with their healthcare provider.
Nonverbal communication is as effective as verbal communication and in some cases, more. Virtual visits limit communication with body language and facial expressions. Healthcare providers can read these cues during in-person visits and act accordingly.
While telemedicine might be said to save cost, it does not come cheap. Patients may lack the financial ability to buy smartphones, airtime and data, and instruments and equipment.
Unfortunately, patients may not have insurance, or their insurance companies may not cover telemedicine healthcare services.
Healthcare providers are not left out as they also need airtime and data to call and interact with patients.
Telemedicine is a novel approach to access and delivery of prenatal care. Like the conventional in-person approach of care, it has its pros and cons.
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At My Virtual Physician, our team is committed to ensuring that patients get the best of health care as needed. We provide virtual care at any point in your pregnancy while you await your appointment with your local OB doctor. We are in network with many insurance health plans including Medicaid, Medicare, United HealthCare, and Blue Cross.
