Telemedicine for Home Healthcare: Effectiveness, Participation, and Sustainability

Aybuke Bacanli, Gokce Iscan, Secil Gunher Arica

Keywords: Telemedicine, home care service, patient compliance

Background:

The growing need to optimize healthcare resources has increased the relevance of home healthcare services, particularly during the pandemic. Telemedicine, a technology-driven method, has become a critical tool, enabling diagnostic, treatment, and monitoring processes remotely. While telemedicine offers significant advantages, challenges such as limited technological literacy among the elderly remain barriers to its widespread adoption. The study aims to analyze utilization rates, adherence factors, and service types in telemedicine applications within home healthcare services, proposing recommendations to improve sustainability.

Research questions:

1.How effective are telemedicine applications in delivering home healthcare services across different age groups, and what factors influence adherence rates?
2.What are the primary barriers to successful telemedicine consultations in home healthcare services, and how can these be mitigated?

Method:

A retrospective analysis used data from 1,254 telemedicine appointments scheduled over two years. Descriptive statistics and p-value analysis (p<0.05) were applied to evaluate success rates and adherence.

Results:

Successful consultations were conducted for 398 patients (31.74%), with no gender differences observed. Age significantly impacted success rates, ranging from 100% in the 3–18 group to 30% among individuals 65 and older (p=0.0057). Most frequent services included single-doctor reports (200 cases), prescriptions (118 cases), and medical board reports (23 cases, 92% success rate). Missed appointments (616 cases), undelivered SMS (128 cases), and lack of technology access (12 cases) were key reasons for unsuccessful consultations. Telemedicine enhances healthcare access and system efficiency, especially for populations with limited mobility. However, challenges such as technological barriers and patient non-compliance limit its sustainability. Addressing these issues through improved infrastructure, education, and innovative technologies is critical.

Conclusions:

Telemedicine is an effective tool for improving healthcare delivery and facilitating access to social rights. Sustainable adoption requires addressing inequalities in digital access, enhancing patient adherence, and strengthening technical infrastructure.

Points for discussion:

Barriers to Telemedicine Adoption Among Older Adults

Improving Appointment Adherence in Telemedicine

Sustainability and Equity in Telemedicine Services

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