Telemedicine in Remote Malawi: Adoption Rates and Patient Satisfaction Analysis

Telemedicine has emerged as a critical tool for healthcare delivery in remote areas of Malawi where traditional health services are limited. A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving quantitative surveys assessing adoption rates and qualitative interviews exploring patient satisfaction. Data were collected from a convenience sample of participants across five randomly chosen villages. Telemedicine use in selected villages showed an adoption rate of approximately 45%, with significant variations between villages due to technological infrastructure availability. Patient satisfaction levels averaged above 80% but varied, suggesting improvements are needed for equitable service delivery. This study underscores the potential of telemedicine in enhancing healthcare access and quality in remote Malawian settings, highlighting areas needing further development. Investment should be directed towards improving internet connectivity and device accessibility to ensure widespread adoption. Additionally, ongoing user feedback mechanisms are essential for continuous improvement. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.