Table 5 Reasons for choosing telemedicine

Patient and provider safety

Reduce the incidence of infectious diseases and prevent their further spread

296

Protect service providers against infectious diseases

2

Initial assessment and triage of patients with symptoms of infectious diseases

1

Increase patient safety

1

Vaccination at national level

1

Physical examination

Access to patients’ history

1

Spending more time and time of the physician for the patient’s examination

11

Not forgetting the information that can be provided in describing the history by the patient

2

More honesty of the patient in providing information

1

Diagnosis

Physician’s greater accuracy in diagnosing the disease and avoiding their mistakes during the diagnosis process

4

Access to the patient’s clinical history

1

Physician’s access to reliable information

1

Reduction of life and financial complications

1

Treatment

Easier, better and faster treatment

21

Improvement of patient participation in treatment processes

4

Easy finding of answers to questions

3

Visiting and treating a larger number of patients

3

Managing and treating the elderly comfortably

3

Helping the patient in emergency situations

2

No need for in-person visits

2

Easy management and control of chronic diseases

2

Increasing individual independence

2

Allocating more time by the physician to the patient

1

Recording all treatment steps

1

Reviewing and accessing the patient’s electronic record

1

More energy of physicians to treat patients

1

More responsibility of physicians

1

Training on how to treatment processes for patients

1

Providing fast care services to patients

1

Improving self-care processes

1

Compensating for the lack of physicians in treatment centers

1

More accurate treatment recommendations

1

Spending more physician time to follow up the patient’s treatment processes

1

Medication prescription

Better monitoring of patients’ health status by physician to prescribe medicine

1

Better prescription of medicine for individuals with chronic diseases

1

Access to physicians

Access to wider range of specialties

45

Quick and easy access to physicians at any time and from any place

11

Cost management

Reducing treatment costs

210

Reduce consumption of personal protective equipment

1

Reduce fuel consumption

1

Simple payment of costs

1

Reduce costs related to office and paper processes

1

Reduce accounting errors

1

Increase the income of physicians and health organizations

1

Time management

Saving time

181

Control and manage time better

2

Reduce patient waiting time

2

Geographical distances

Eliminating geographical distances

9

Reducing the need for additional trips and the possibility of traveling to any medical center anywhere in the world

5

Receiving emergency care services quickly

3

Expanding the geographic range to receive healthcare services

2

Psychological aspects

Comfortable interaction of shy and isolated individuals with the therapist

19

Reducing tension and stress

15

More peace of mind for patients in treatment

4

Increasing patients’ self-confidence

2

Increasing patients’ motivation to continuing his treatment

2

Reducing social stigma

1

Reducing fear and stress caused by reducing time

1

Less stress of service providers

1

Faster recovery of patients with mental disorders

1

Electronic registration and management of patients’ information

Saving the electronic information of the patients

3

Access to clinical records of patients at any time and any place

2

Quickly retrieve the information

1

Reducing the use of paper

1

Don’t spend a lot of time by physicians to obtain the required information

1

Save audio and video information

1

Access to up-to-date information by physicians

1

Easy sharing of patient information with other physicians

1

Preservation of information against natural events

1

Transfer of patient information to medical centers

1

Insurance and reimbursements

Easy receipt of bills from insurance companies

1

Providing logical evidence against insurance companies’ claims

1

Healthy environment

Reducing urban traffic

5

Not destroying green spaces

2

Increasing the physical and mental health of patients by eliminating noise pollution

2

Reducing pollution

1

Interaction and communication

Reducing the stress and anxiety of the patients

5

Better and easier interaction with the therapist

3

Establishing private communication between the patient and the physician

2

Peer-to-peer support

1

Consulting physicians with each other

1

Information technology

Creating a backup of medical records

2

Reduce repetitive processes

1

Training self-care processes to patients

1

Allowing to patients to access their medical information

1

Security, privacy and legal issues

Determination of authorized persons to use patient information

1

Easy identification of persons who disclose information

1

Determination of access levels to medical records

1

Prevention of information losing

1

Reduction of unauthorized use of information

1

Easy follow-up of legal issues

1

Laboratory tests

Storage and quick access to laboratory test results by patients

1

Quick sending of laboratory test results to therapists

1

Better interpretation of test results

1

Reduction of in-person visits of patients to medical centers to perform laboratory tests

1

Remote monitoring

Vital sign monitoring for control and management of patients

5

Easy drug withdrawal for addicts

2

Reducing the exacerbation of the disease

1

Monitoring and controlling the health status of veterans

1

Providing easy services to disabled individuals

1

Easy care of babies and children

2

Providing telerehabilitation services to patients

2

Use of monitoring tools and sensors to monitor the condition of patients and save their lives

1

Admission and hospitalization

Help individuals living in villages to easily visiting

17

Easily determine appointment times

7

reducing the rate of hospital admissions and readmissions

4

reducing the crowding of medical centers and hospitals

4

Increasing the number of patients visited

1