Telemedicine consultations with physicians in Swedish primary care: a mixed methods study of users’ experiences and care patterns

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to explore users' experiences and care patterns concerning telemedicine consultations with physicians in Swedish primary care from 2017 to 2019. Objective: Design and participants: A mixed methods study involving 26 qualitative interviews with users of telemedicine consultations from a national sample, complemented by a quantitative registry study of data from 10,400 users in a Swedish region. Results: Users mainly described telemedicine consultations as a positive experience and perceived that the service met their current health care needs. Users also valued high accessibility, timesaving, and the contribution to ecological sustainability. Users felt competent about choosing when to use telemedicine consultations, most commonly for less severe health care concerns. This was confirmed by the quantitative results; only a few users had other care contacts within physical primary care before, or after, the telemedicine consultation, attended acute care or phoned 1177 Health Care Guidance. Conclusions: This study provides a rare account of users' experiences of telemedicine consultations. Users expressed satisfaction with this up-to-date use of health care resources for them as individuals, the health care system, and the environment. Telemedicine consultations were perceived as efficient and safe according to users. In addition, the study shows a low degree of further physical contacts in primary care or in acute care related to the telemedicine consultations. KEY POINTSUsers have positive experiences of telemedicine consultations with physicians and experienced that the service had meet their actual needs for health care. Users were mainly satisfied with the service and highlighted the value of high accessibility. Users experienced that telemedicine consultants provided an alternative care service for mostly minor health problems, perceiving them to save time and resources for themselves, the health care system, and the environment. Most telemedicine consultations did not result in additional contacts with 1177 Health Care Guidance, physical visits to primary care, or acute health care. Telemedicine consultations with physicians were mainly used by persons aged 0-30 years and need to be further developed to suit other age groups.

Attitudes, Barriers, and Concerns Regarding Telemedicine Among Swedish Primary Care Physicians: A Qualitative Study

“…22 Patient acceptance of telemedicine is generally high. [11][12][13][14]23 Physician attitudes and experiences have been more mixed. 11,12,24,25 Important areas for physician acceptance of telemedicine include perceived usefulness and ease of use, technical concerns, effects on workflow, and security issues.…”

Telemedicine application in patients with chronic disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Telemedicine consultations meet the current health care needs of patients while demonstrating convenience. Patients are usually satisfied with the service and have the ability to choose when to conduct consultations [ 10 ]. Telemonitoring reduces the number of visits and hospital admissions, thus, scarce medical resources can be used effectively [ 45 ].…”

“…All methods aim to allow the transmission of medical information and realize communication between patients and medical workers. But they still have different, telemedicine consultation is defined as patients consulting the specialist via video or chat which is more interactive and human-centered and can be customized to the individual needs of patients [ 9 , 10 ], telediagnosis is one of the most developed components of telemedicine[ 11 ], it makes use of technology to exchange images and data for making a diagnosis of disease[ 12 ] and often does not require direct clinical examinations[ 13 ], tele-mentoring is used in medical education to disseminate the knowledge and technology, such as fall prevention and infection control [ 14 , 15 ], telemonitoring involves remote monitoring using mobile devices or computers to monitor the patients’ vital signs or indicators of disease and is usually used by care providers in different locations[ 16 ]. Applications are used as platforms that allow for patients and providers to communicate [ 7 ] (Fig.…”

Study Design and Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Efficacy of a Smartphone-Based Therapy of Migraine (SMARTGEM)

“…A Swedish study in a primary care setting found that patients enjoyed the more anonymous character of these consultations, although others preferred face-to-face meetings. An important advantage of this tool is that it allows patients to refer back to what had been said by them and the physician ( 36 ). There is preliminary evidence in favor of self-management in headache medicine ( 37 ) and for other pain conditions such as low back pain ( 38 ).…”