The Use of Electronic Consultations in Outpatient Surgery Clinics: Synthesized Narrative Review

Payne, Thomas; Kevric, Jasmina; Stelmach, Wanda; To, Henry

doi:10.2196/34661

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 89 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Today, technological advances and the integration of new practices in the health sector offer interesting possibilities to solve the problem of excessive wait times and equitable access to specialists, namely through digital health solutions [3][4][5][6][7]. Digital health solutions can help overcome barriers to health care access and patient care management.…”

Section: Econsult Services Worldwidementioning

confidence: 99%

Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians’ and Specialists’ Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

Nabelsi,

Lévesque-Chouinard

2024

JMIR Form Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Electronic consultation (eConsult) is an eHealth service that allows primary care providers (PCPs) to electronically consult specialists regarding their patients’ medical issues. Many studies have demonstrated that eConsult services improve timely access to specialist care; prevent unnecessary referrals; improve PCPs’, specialists’, and patients’ satisfaction; and therefore have a large impact on costs. However, no studies have evaluated PCPs’ and specialists’ acceptance of eConsult services in Quebec, Canada, and worldwide. Objective This exploratory study aims to identify factors affecting eConsult service acceptance by PCPs and specialists in urban and rural primary care clinics across 3 regions in the province of Quebec, Canada, by integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and Task-Technology Fit (TTF) models and user satisfaction. This research was designed to broaden and assist in scaling up this effective eHealth service innovation across the province. Methods A cross-sectional web-based survey was sent to all PCPs (n=263) and specialists (n=62) who used the eConsult Quebec Service between July 2017 and May 2021. We proposed a unified model integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model and TTF model and user satisfaction by endorsing 11 hypotheses. The partial least squares was used to investigate factors influencing the acceptance of the eConsult Quebec Service. Results Of the 325 end users, 136 (41.8%) users responded (PCPs: 101/263, 38.4%; specialists: 35/62, 57%). The results of the analysis with partial least squares method indicate that 9 of our 11 hypotheses are supported. The direct relationships uniting the various constructs of the model highlighted the importance of several key constructs and predominant correlations. The results suggest that satisfaction is the key driver behind the use of the eConsult Quebec Service. Performance expectancy (P<.001) and effort expectancy (P=.03) can have a positive impact on behavioral intention (BI), and BI (P<.001) can impact adoption. TTF has an influence on performance expectancy (P<.001), adoption (P=.02), and satisfaction (P<.001). However, the results show that there is no direct effect between social influence (P=.38) and BI or between facilitating conditions (P=.17) and adoption. Conclusions This study provides a better understanding of the factors influencing PCPs’ and specialists’ intention to adopt the eConsult Quebec Service. Furthermore, this study tests a research model and a technology that have never been explored in Quebec until now. On the basis of the results, the service is a good fit to meet the users’ need to improve access to specialized medical advice. Therefore, the results of our study have made a valuable contribution to the implementation of the service by policy makers in order to maximize acceptance, use, adoption, and success across the province of Quebec. Moreover, after 4 successful years, the eConsult Quebec pilot project is now the Conseil Numérique digital consultation service.

show abstract

Section: Econsult Services Worldwidementioning

confidence: 99%

Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians’ and Specialists’ Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

Nabelsi,

Lévesque-Chouinard

2024

JMIR Form Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Quality Improvement Report: Design and Implementation of a Radiology E-Consult Service

Suresh,

Hill,

Kahn

et al. 2023

RadioGraphics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians’ and Specialists’ Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study (Preprint)

Nabelsi,

Lévesque-Chouinard

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND Electronic Consultation (eConsult) is an eHealth service that allows primary care providers (PCPs) to electronically consult specialists regarding their patients’ medical issues. Many studies have demonstrated that eConsult services improve timely access to specialist care, prevent unnecessary referrals, improve PCPs’, specialists’ and patients’ satisfaction, and therefore have a large impact on costs. However, no studies have evaluated PCPs’ and specialists’ acceptance of eConsult services in Canada, and worldwide. OBJECTIVE This exploratory study aimed to identify factors affecting eConsult service acceptance by PCPs and specialists in urban and rural primary care clinics across three regions in the province of Quebec, Canada, by integrating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology (UTAUT) and Task-Technology Fit (TTF) models, and user satisfaction. This research was designed to broaden and assist in scaling up this effective eHealth service innovation across the province. METHODS A cross-sectional web-based survey was sent to all PCPs (N=263) and specialists (N=62) who used the eConsult Quebec Service between July 2017 to May 2021. We proposed a unified model integrating the UTAUT model and TTF model, and user satisfaction by endorsing eleven hypotheses. The partial least squares (PLS) was used to investigate factors influencing the acceptance of the eConsult Quebec Service. RESULTS Of the 325 end users, 41.8% (N=101 or 38% PCPs and N=35 or 56% specialists) responded. The results of the analysis with PLS indicate that 9 of our 11 hypotheses are supported. The direct relationships uniting the various constructs of the model highlighted the importance of several key constructs and predominant correlations. Results suggest that satisfaction (SAT) is the key driver behind the use of the eConsult Quebec Service. Performance expectancy (PE) (P<.001) and effort expectancy (EE) (P<.05) can have a positive impact on behavioral intention (BI), and BI (P<.001) can impact on adoption (ATT). TTF has an influence on PE (P<.001), ATT (P<.05) and SAT (P<.001). However, results show that there is no direct effect between social influence (SI) (P=.064) and BI or between facilitating conditions (FC) (P=.114) and ATT. CONCLUSIONS This study provides a better understanding of the factors influencing PCPs’ and specialists’ intention to adopt the eConsult Quebec Service. Furthermore, this study tests a research model and a technology that has never been explored in Quebec until now. Based on the results, the service is a good fit to meet the users’ need to improve access to specialized medical advice. Therefore, the results of our study have made a valuable contribution to the implementation of the service by policy-makers in order to maximize acceptance, use, adoption and success across the province of Quebec. In fact, after four successful years, the eConsult Quebec pilot project is now the Conseil Numérique (CN) digital consultation service. CLINICALTRIAL None.

show abstract

The Use of Electronic Consultations in Outpatient Surgery Clinics: Synthesized Narrative Review

Cited by 3 publications

References 89 publications

Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians’ and Specialists’ Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians’ and Specialists’ Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

Quality Improvement Report: Design and Implementation of a Radiology E-Consult Service

Successful Electronic Consultation Service Initiative in Quebec, Canada With Primary Care Physicians’ and Specialists’ Experiences on Acceptance and Use of Technological Innovation: Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study (Preprint)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About