Telemedicine in Swedish primary health care - a web-based survey exploring patient satisfaction

Abstract

Background Direct-to-consumer telemedicine (TM), with patients having access to a physician via video or text chat, has gradually been introduced into Swedish primary care during the last two decades. Earlier studies have concluded that patients were generally satisfied with TM and the satisfaction rate was consistently above 80% and comparable with in-person visits. Despite the number of studies looking at user experience, studies assessing what factors influence patient satisfaction are lacking. To further develop digital care, it is important to explore the patients’ opinions of this relatively new phenomenon. The primary aim of this study was to explore patient opinions regarding satisfaction with TM-provided care, based on different age groups, sex, symptoms, and which type of health care professional they were assessed by. Methods The study was a quantitative web survey performed in 2020–2021 in which 688 patients using a TM provider in Southern Sweden responded. The results were analysed using Chi-2 test with the main outputs; satisfaction level and percentage that would use TM for similar symptoms in the future. Results The results from the survey population show that patients that were assessed by a doctor were more likely to intend to use TM in the future and were more satisfied with the visit than patients assessed by a nurse. Our results also show that patients older than 70 years of age were less likely to use TM again compared to the total population. Conclusion This study shows that patient satisfaction with TM varied depending on the patient’s age. The older patients were less satisfied than their younger equivalents. For patient satisfaction to be high, it was also crucial which health care provider the patient had been assessed by. The patients were more satisfied when assessed by a doctor than by a nurse. In addition, the study shows that patient satisfaction with TM was generally comparable to traditional care.

Inequity in access to digital public primary healthcare in Sweden: a cross-sectional study of the effects of urbanicity and socioeconomic status on utilization

“…A previous study of a Swedish population showed utilization of digital PHC being more common among those of a younger age and women [ 4 ] and a previous study of an American population showed similar results as this study with a mean age of 38.3 years and 63% of users being women [ 6 ]. Furthermore, previous studies have shown older age being associated with impaired digital health literacy [ 10 ] and dissatisfaction with digital PHC [ 23 ]. Meanwhile, elderly patients have also expressed a wish and a need to move forward and learn more about digital solutions.…”

Satisfaction with remote consultations in primary care during COVID-19: a population survey of UK adults

“…Despite initial associations, age and occupational status were not overall significantly associated with satisfaction in the multivariable analyses, suggesting they were correlated with other factors. Multivariable exploration of the association with age in other samples will be useful, particularly given the mixed findings in previous studies (12,13,(15)(16)(17)(18). Given the limited representation of those from ethnic minority groups in the present study, further exploration of satisfaction with remote GP consultations by ethnic background would be useful.…”

“…Studies exploring demographic variation in satisfaction with remote primary care consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic have used a variety of satisfaction measures, often using single items (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)18). Those which used multi-item measures of satisfaction do not appear to have included factors specific to COVID-19 (16,17).…”

“…Findings about satisfaction with and preferences for remote consultation differed between studies (11). Some studies showed positive associations between satisfaction with remote consultations and demographic factors such as younger age (12,13), being female(14, 15), higher education (16) and better health status (17). In contrast, no association was reported for age (15)(16)(17)(18), gender (12,13,17), education (12,17), occupation (16), income (12,16), deprivation (15) or current health (12).…”

Emergency trauma care: Pakistan’s preparedness amidst the growing impact of rapid climate change

“…Similarly, innovative technologies, including telemedicine and digital health records, have also been embraced by leading healthcare systems in the world 5 . For instance, Scandinavian countries have integrated telemedicine platforms into their emergency trauma care protocols, enabling real-time consultations and streamlined information sharing between healthcare providers 14 . In times of disaster management, this service would be of utmost importance.…”