Telemedicine services through “Telekyanmar online clinics” following the military coup in Myanmar: Clients’ and providers’ satisfaction

Background Telekyanmar (Telehealth), one of the telemedicine services in Myanmar, was initiated a few months after the military coup and amidst the onset of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The program aims to address the urgent requirement for accessible medical services for Myanmar’s vulnerable population. Given the critical importance of both clients’ and providers’ satisfaction in the success of telemedicine services, this study aims to evaluate clients’ and providers’ satisfaction regarding the telehealth services offered by the Telekyanmar project in Myanmar. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2023 to September 2023 by utilizing a quantitative research method. Data were collected online through a structured questionnaire. The clients who have received health care services and clinicians who are working at Telekyanmar clinics during the study period were included in the study. Data management and analysis were done by using R software (https://www.r-project.org/). Results A total of 306 clients and 79 clinicians were included in the assessment. The mean age of the clients and clinicians were 33.2±13.6 years and 35.6±6.8 years, respectively. Over 85% of the clients and 58.2% of clinicians were residing inside the country. Clients’ satisfaction on various aspects of Telekyanmar services were assessed, with the question regarding “health staff respect for privacy” receiving the highest proportion of “good” and “excellent” responses at 96.1%. Regarding overall treatment experience, 96.7% of clients reported being “very satisfied” and “satisfied” with the Telekyanmar services. Overall satisfaction was reported by 88.6% of clinicians. Specifically, over 87% of clinicians reported their satisfaction on “communication with patients”, 79.7% satisfied with “quality of clinical consultation”, and 78.5% satisfied with “treatment prescription”. Conclusions The findings indicated that majority of the clients and clinicians expressed their satisfaction with the Telekyanmar services, which was established to address the healthcare needs of people in Myanmar after the military coup.