Mobile Phone-Based Teleconsultation Service Utilization and Associated Factors Among Healthcare Professionals in Primary Hospitals of West Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Background: Teleconsultation with a mobile phone is one form of telemedicine which can be easily practiced since most healthcare professionals own mobile phone. Many patients are forced to wait for a while before they get to see a specialist. Patients also forced unnecessary transport and lost their time and money during the referral process. Therefore this study aims to determine the level of mobile phone-based teleconsultation service utilization and identify associated factors among healthcare professionals in primary hospitals. Methods: Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Binary logistic regression has been used to assess factors associated with the outcome variable. Result: A total of 388 healthcare professionals (92% response rate) were involved in the study from 8 primary hospitals. Mobile phone-based teleconsultation service utilization was found 106(27.3%). Healthcare professionals who had good knowledge of teleconsultation were 6.6 times (AOR=6.6, 95%CI: 1.46-29.93) and those who perceive teleconsultation as useful were 7.2 times (AOR= 7.2, 95% CI: 2.036-25.589) more likely to utilize mobile phone-based teleconsultation service than their counterparts. Conclusion: The finding has shown that healthcare professionals’ level of mobile phone-based teleconsultation service utilization was low. Internet connectivity, participants’ knowledge towards teleconsultation, perceived usefulness, and peer influence were found to be significantly associated with mobile phone-based teleconsultation service utilization in primary hospitals.