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- Title
General practitioners' perceptions of using virtual primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international cross-sectional survey study.
- Authors
Li, Edmond; Tsopra, Rosy; Jimenez, Geronimo; Serafini, Alice; Gusso, Gustavo; Lingner, Heidrun; Fernandez, Maria Jose; Irving, Greg; Petek, Davorina; Hoffman, Robert; Lazic, Vanja; Memarian, Ensieh; Koskela, Tuomas; Collins, Claire; Espitia, Sandra Milena; Clavería, Ana; Nessler, Katarzyna; O'Neill, Braden Gregory; Hoedebecke, Kyle; Ungan, Mehmet
- Abstract
With the onset of COVID-19, general practitioners (GPs) and patients worldwide swiftly transitioned from face-to-face to digital remote consultations. There is a need to evaluate how this global shift has impacted patient care, healthcare providers, patient and carer experience, and health systems. We explored GPs' perspectives on the main benefits and challenges of using digital virtual care. GPs across 20 countries completed an online questionnaire between June–September 2020. GPs' perceptions of main barriers and challenges were explored using free-text questions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. A total of 1,605 respondents participated in our survey. The benefits identified included reducing COVID-19 transmission risks, guaranteeing access and continuity of care, improved efficiency, faster access to care, improved convenience and communication with patients, greater work flexibility for providers, and hastening the digital transformation of primary care and accompanying legal frameworks. Main challenges included patients' preference for face-to-face consultations, digital exclusion, lack of physical examinations, clinical uncertainty, delays in diagnosis and treatment, overuse and misuse of digital virtual care, and unsuitability for certain types of consultations. Other challenges include the lack of formal guidance, higher workloads, remuneration issues, organisational culture, technical difficulties, implementation and financial issues, and regulatory weaknesses. At the frontline of care delivery, GPs can provide important insights on what worked well, why, and how during the pandemic. Lessons learned can be used to inform the adoption of improved virtual care solutions and support the long-term development of platforms that are more technologically robust and secure. Author summary: Whether it be a simple telephone call or more sophisticated video conferencing systems, virtual care tools have been in use in primary care settings worldwide in one form or another throughout the past two decades. Over time, these tools have grown in availability, matured in their capabilities, but played a largely supportive role as an alternative option to traditional face-to-face consultations. This all changed in early 2020. The onset of COVID-19 presented a unique opportunity globally which put virtual care tools at the forefront of primary care delivery. The need for social distancing to limit disease transmission resulted in virtual care tools becoming the primary means with which to continue providing primary care services. Hence, our study's goal was to capture the spectrum of GP experiences using virtual care tools during the initial months of the pandemic so as to better understand the perceived benefits and challenges, and explore what changes are needed to allow them to reach their fullest potential. To this end, we received a total of 1,605 responses from 20 countries globally. Our results demonstrated that virtual care tools were beneficial in limiting COVID-19 transmission, improved convenience when communicating with patients, and encouraged the further adoption of virtual care tools in primary care. Challenges included patients' preferences for face-to-face consultations, digital exclusion of certain populations, diagnostic challenges associated with the inability to perform physical examinations, and their general unsuitability for certain types of consultations. Practical challenges such as higher workloads, payment issues, and technical difficulties were also reported. Learning from this global natural experiment is critical to both updating existing and introducing new health technology policies concerning virtual primary care. Doing so will be imperative to supporting and promoting the better use of these novel technologies in our evolving healthcare milieu.
- Subjects
RESEARCH; MEDICAL quality control; HEALTH services accessibility; COVID-19; CROSS-sectional method; PHYSICIANS' attitudes; PRIMARY health care; QUESTIONNAIRES; COMMUNICATION; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; THEMATIC analysis; TELEMEDICINE; COVID-19 pandemic
- Publication
PLoS Digital Health, 2022, Vol 1, Issue 5, p1
- ISSN
2767-3170
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pdig.0000029