Staff and students' perceptions about using telehealth technology in a medical university: A qualitative study.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The use of telehealth technology is a way to promote the health status of the community. The purpose of this study was to investigate staff and students' perceptions about using telehealth technology in a medical university. METHODS: This was a qualitative study completed in 2020. The research participants were 26 university staff and students who took part in semi-structured interviews. To analyze the data, the thematic analysis method was used. RESULTS: The findings of the present study included five themes, 20 subthemes and 58 categories. The main themes were the current status of providing healthcare services at the university, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of using telehealth technology for the university staff and students. CONCLUSION: According to the results, there are many opportunities for using telehealth technology in the medical university. The experiences of other institutes can be used to implement the technology successfully.