Abstract

Purpose: To compare patients’ outcome with telemedicine and physical consultation during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: An ambispective study was carried out on 6052 patients. An outcome scoring system was developed and validated. Outcome scores for various symptoms were assessed both pre-treatment and post-treatment in both the groups. Results & Conclusion: A total of 6052 patients were included in the study out of which the physical consultation group had 2485 patients (41.06%) and telemedicine consultation patients were 3567 (58.93%). Male patients were 63.11% and female patients were 36.89%. There was a significant change in outcome score for pain and redness noted in both physical and telemedicine consultation groups (p value <0.0001). We evaluated patient’s satisfaction with telemedicine by using the Telehealth usability questionnaire with mean score of 5.40 out of 7. Our study results confirm that this novel model of care was well received by most patients.