Medicolegal Liability and Telemedicine Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic: Egyptian Physicians' Perspectives | ||||
| Zagazig Journal of Forensic Medicine | ||||
| Article 11, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 2023, Page 190-207 PDF (977.02 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/zjfm.2022.182537.1134 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Marwa M. Anwar   1; Enas M A Mostafa2; Shaimaa A. Shehata 3; Samar Abd ElHafeez4; nahed M ali5
| ||||
| 1forensic medicine and clinical toxicology department, faculty of medicine, suez canal university, ismailia, Egypt | ||||
| 2forensic medicine and clinical toxicology department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt | ||||
| 3Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt. | ||||
| 4department of epidemiology, higher institute of public health, Alexandria university, Alexandria, Egypt | ||||
| 5forensic medicine and clinical toxicology department, faculty of medicine, Suez canal university | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Abstract Introduction: During COVID-19 pandemic, physicians faced diverse medicolegal dilemmas, and they found themselves increasingly involved in the practice of telemedicine; which by itself entails many ethical and medicolegal concerns. Aim of work: To ameliorate medicolegal liability and malpractice suits during future pandemics through assessment of perception/attitude of Egyptian physicians towards medicolegal liability of practicing medicine during COVID-19 pandemic and exploring their perception/attitude & practice of telemedicine during COVID 19 pandemic. Participants & methods: We conducted an online survey among 385 Egyptian physicians of variable specialties; which focused on two challenging issues; 1) medicolegal liability of medical practice during the pandemic, and 2) telemedicine. Results: Our results showed that 62 % believed that physicians should be given legal protections in the form of a total exemption from medico-legal liability during COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 77% agreed that sharing patients' data on social media may subject them to legal risk. About 63% practiced telemedicine during the pandemic; where 58% declared that it subjects physicians to medicolegal liability in case of malpractice, 57% approved requiring a specific license and 76% approved requiring training, while 37% believed that telemedicine practice doesn't require informed consent. There was a positive moderate correlation between total score of both sections of our questionnaire (r= =0.35, p < 0.0001). Logistic regression models showed that regarding physicians’ opinions about telemedicine; their specialty and working in COVID-19 triage were statistically significant predictors. Conclusion: Our study draws attention to the need to propose reform plans to address such challenges during the current COVID-19 pandemic and future possible pandemics, not only on a national level, but also globally. Keywords: COVID 19, Egyptian physicians, ethical, medicolegal, pandemic, telemedicine | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| COVID 19; Egyptian physicians; ethical; medicolegal; pandemic; telemedicine | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 213 PDF Download: 262 |
||||
