Utilisation Patterns and Implementation Outcomes of Telemedicine Services among Beneficiaries in Hard-to-reach Areas of Rajasthan: An Implementation Research Study

Utilisation Patterns and Implementation Outcomes of Telemedicine Services among Beneficiaries in Hard-to-reach Areas of Rajasthan: An Implementation Research Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Utilisation Patterns and Implementation Outcomes of Telemedicine Services among Beneficiaries in Hard-to-reach Areas of Rajasthan: An Implementation Research Study Ramesh Kumar Huda, Rahul Singh Chowhan, Payal Bhootra, Rakesh Kumar, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8499494/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Hard-to-reach areas of Rajasthan often experience poor healthcare access and delayed treatment resulting in health risks. A telemedicine intervention was implemented in randomly selected villages of Rajasthan to provide remote medical consultations real-time screening through digital diagnostic tools. Methods This analysis used intervention data from 4,401 beneficiaries of telemedicine services across five hard-to-reach areas of Rajasthan. Demographic details, clinical symptoms, physiological measurements, and treatment-seeking outcomes were recorded on teleconsultation platform. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted using MS-EXCEL & SPSS version 29. The Kruskal-Wallis test examined physiological differences across treatment groups, Spearman’s rank correlation assessed associations between age and vitals, and Chi-square test evaluated village-wise variations in treatment-seeking behaviour. Results Of the total 4,401 beneficiaries, across all ages and gender showed high acceptance (98.6%) with only 1.4% referral rate. Highest enrolment from Siner (1097 patients) and the lowest from Siner Thanmata Hinglaj (720 patients). Blood pressure varied significantly across treatment-seeking groups (systolic: χ²(2) = 13.64, p = 0.001; diastolic: χ²(2) = 12.20, p = 0.002). Age correlated positively with systolic (rₛ=0.64, p < 0.001) and diastolic BP (rₛ=0.60, p < 0.001) but negatively with SpO₂ (rₛ=−0.17, p < 0.001) and heart rate (rₛ=−0.32, p < 0.001). ECG tests were performed for participants with cardiac symptoms. Conclusion Telemedicine effectively provided access to medical services across gender and age groups in hard-to-reach areas. These findings highlight the value of telemedicine platforms for both service delivery and real-time risk profiling in hard-to-reach areas. Telemedicine rural health services treatment-seeking behaviour healthcare accessibility Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8499494","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":572509716,"identity":"ef200da3-288f-4db3-b7e0-30c51faec339","order_by":0,"name":"Ramesh Kumar 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Study\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Telemedicine, rural health services, treatment-seeking behaviour, healthcare accessibility","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8499494/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8499494/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eHard-to-reach areas of Rajasthan often experience poor healthcare access and delayed treatment resulting in health risks. A telemedicine intervention was implemented in randomly selected villages of Rajasthan to provide remote medical consultations real-time screening through digital diagnostic tools.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis analysis used intervention data from 4,401 beneficiaries of telemedicine services across five hard-to-reach areas of Rajasthan. Demographic details, clinical symptoms, physiological measurements, and treatment-seeking outcomes were recorded on teleconsultation platform. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted using MS-EXCEL \u0026amp; SPSS version 29. The Kruskal-Wallis test examined physiological differences across treatment groups, Spearman\u0026rsquo;s rank correlation assessed associations between age and vitals, and Chi-square test evaluated village-wise variations in treatment-seeking behaviour.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOf the total 4,401 beneficiaries, across all ages and gender showed high acceptance (98.6%) with only 1.4% referral rate. Highest enrolment from Siner (1097 patients) and the lowest from Siner Thanmata Hinglaj (720 patients). Blood pressure varied significantly across treatment-seeking groups (systolic: χ\u0026sup2;(2)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;13.64, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001; diastolic: χ\u0026sup2;(2)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;12.20, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.002). Age correlated positively with systolic (rₛ=0.64, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) and diastolic BP (rₛ=0.60, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) but negatively with SpO₂ (rₛ=\u0026minus;0.17, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) and heart rate (rₛ=\u0026minus;0.32, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). ECG tests were performed for participants with cardiac symptoms.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTelemedicine effectively provided access to medical services across gender and age groups in hard-to-reach areas. These findings highlight the value of telemedicine platforms for both service delivery and real-time risk profiling in hard-to-reach areas.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Utilisation Patterns and Implementation Outcomes of Telemedicine Services among Beneficiaries in Hard-to-reach Areas of Rajasthan: An Implementation Research Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-13 17:29:34","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8499494/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a2f88688-cb1c-48a0-a675-bc9431de59e1","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-22T09:43:46+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-13 17:29:34","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8499494","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8499494","identity":"rs-8499494","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}