Level of Patient’s satisfaction with Online Psychiatric Outdoor services

Purpose: During the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, there have been treatment gaps for common physical and mental disorders due to vast reasons like lockdowns, poor convenience, fear of getting COVID infection, and economic restraints. Hence, to reduce the treatment gap and, also to limit exposure to COVID-19 infections, telemedicine in the form of telephonic and internet consultations has been increasingly adopted worldwide. Our centre also started telepsychiatry to cater for the needs of patients with pre-existing mental health disorders to ensure regular follow-up and compliance with prescriptions. The study aimed to assess the level of patient satisfaction through online psychiatric services (Telepsychiatry). Methods: Ethical clearance for the present study was granted by the research cell of the study centre. The sample consisted of 100 patients with pre-existing mental health disorders. This was a single-point cross-sectional study for 6 months. Hospital Information system (HIS) software, which is used to manage the patient's appointment schedule, relevant clinical and lab details along with follow-up prescriptions was used to follow the selected patients for study purposes. This software also provides a digital platform for video calls for online consultation. Client Satisfaction Questionnaires-8 (CSQ-8) were applied to collect patient data for analysis. Result: The mean total CSQ-8 score of the study sample was 21.01±5.80 (8-32), which indicates a low to moderate level of satisfaction with online psychiatric services. Most patients (45%) reported low satisfaction levels followed by 37% of the patients who reported moderate levels of satisfaction. Only 18% of the patients reported higher satisfaction with online psychiatric services. Conclusion: Despite the psychiatrist's ability to deliver adequate professional advice and psychoeducation through online psychiatric services, the patient’s level of satisfaction was moderate to low. This suggests a need to design standard protocols and guidelines for consultation through online psychiatric services to enhance the patient’s level of satisfaction.