Introduction
Background Information and Statistics
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to telemedicine across Hong Kong in order to uphold social distancing efforts and infection control. Telehealth platforms enabled video consultations between patients and doctors as an alternative to in-person visits. HA Go TeleHealth is one such pioneering platform launched by the Hospital Authority to facilitate remote healthcare services (Ting & Man, 2021). However, recent adoption trends indicate there are still barriers hampering sustained usage of telemedicine. A 2021 study found that while telehealth usage spiked over 257% compared to pre-pandemic rates, only 23% of citizens surveyed were willing to permanently switch to remote consultations (Ting et al., 2021). This reluctance highlights considerable room for improvement in how Hong Kong’s nascent telemedicine ecosystems are packaged and presented to consumers. Fortunately, established service quality evaluation models like SERQUAL provide standard dimensions against which platforms can be measured, including reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness (Yaya et al., 2022). By assessing HA Go TeleHealth against these criteria, areas of deficiency can be addressed to promote better acceptance and sustained adoption amongst patients.
Overview of Topic
This essay focuses specifically on applying SERQUAL’s service quality dimensions as a framework for improving HA Go TeleHealth’s offerings. As a pioneer telemedicine platform endorsed by Hong Kong’s health authorities, refinements to HA Go can set best practices for the broader local industry. The five main SERQUAL dimensions provide a standardized methodology to critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the platform across factors influencing patient trust and willingness to use and recommend telehealth services. Reliability analysis would assess the consistency and stability of HA Go’s performance, while assurance evaluation examines abilities to convey confidence and reduce risk perceptions related to data security and privacy. Assessing tangibles would review the visual and functional appeal of the interface and interactions. Empathy analysis gauges the customized, caring service level provided to patients via the platform. Finally, responsiveness metrics quantify wait times, convenience, and promptness of assistance. Identifying shortcomings across these dimensions exposes opportunities to target platform improvements and promotions to address adoption barriers.
Significance of Topic
Applying the SERQUAL methodology to improve HA Go is significant for multiple reasons. With only 23% willing to adopt telemedicine long-term (Ting et al., 2021), major refinements are imperative to shift preferences and unlock the technology’s potential to enhance Hong Kong’s healthcare system. Enhanced service quality and user experience can accelerate telemedicine integration, supporting Hong Kong’s progression towards its Smart City goals around healthcare innovation and technology readiness (Innovation & Technology Bureau, 2020). As the first telemedicine platform rolled out by Hong Kong’s health authorities, HA Go’s service quality also sets precedents for other emerging providers; hence, refinements promote industry-wide improvements. Finally, this evaluation framework and recommendations can inform future telemedicine platform developments to ensure sustainable adoption from the launch phases. Posts-improvement analysis of HA Go’s usage metrics will reveal the impact of interventions to guide ongoing enhancements for providers system-wide.
Objectives:
- Critically evaluate HA Go TeleHealth’s current service quality against SERQUAL dimensions of reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness.
- Identify and rank the biggest shortcomings in service quality to expose priority areas hampering patient trust, satisfaction, and willingness for sustained platform usage.
- Research, analyze, and provide Hospital Authority recommendations on implementing telephonic and technological refinements, security innovations, visual upgrades, convenience add-ons, and personalized customizations to address the most severe service gaps.
- Develop a metrics-driven approach for continual monitoring of post-improvement HA Go adoption rates, user feedback, and patient experience scoring to enable ongoing refinements toward cementing telemedicine as a trusted component of Hong Kong’s healthcare infrastructure.
References
References Agbo, C. C., Mahmoud, Q. H., & Eklund, J. M. (2019). Blockchain technology in healthcare: A systematic review. Healthcare, 7(2), 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7020056
Innovation & Technology Bureau. (2020). Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0. GovHK. https://www.smartcity.gov.hk/blueprint/en.html
Ting, D. S., & Man, C. K. (2021). Patient experience and acceptance of e-prescriptions and teleconsultations during COVID-19: Cross-sectional questionnaire study. JMIR Formative Research, 5(12), e28891. https://doi.org/10.2196/28891
Yaya, L. H. P., Marimon, F., Casadesus, M., & Fa, M. C. (2022). Assessing e-service quality and customer satisfaction in telemedicine services. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 33(1-2), 133–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2020.1724916
write