Use of email for consulting with patients in general practice

Atherton, Helen

doi:10.3399/bjgp13x664072

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Despite email being commonly offered by GP offices for making appointments and renewing prescriptions, its use for direct contact with the GP is not commonplace. 13 In a retrospective observational study, even though email consultation was adopted by half of the general practices in the Netherlands in 2014, its actual use was extremely low. 14 Moreover, the security level for regular email is considered insufficient 4 and non-compliant to current requirements for authentication and encryption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patients’ use and experiences with e-consultation and other digital health services with their general practitioner in Norway: results from an online survey

Zanaboni

Fagerlund

2020

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesTo explore patients’ use and experiences with four digital health services implemented in Norway to enable electronic communication between patients and their general practitioner (GP): (1) electronic booking of appointments; (2) electronic prescription renewal; (3) electronic contact with the GP’s office for non-clinical inquiries; and (4) e-consultation for clinical inquiries.DesignAn online survey consisting of quantitative data supplemented by qualitative information was conducted to explore: (1) characteristics of the users; (2) use; (3) experiences, perceived benefits and satisfaction; and (4) time spent using the digital health services.SettingPrimary care.Participants2043 users of the digital health services answering the survey.ResultsThere was a higher proportion of women, younger adults and digitally active citizens with high education. Electronic booking of appointments was the most used service (66.4%), followed by electronic prescription renewal (54.3%). Most users (80%) could more easily and efficiently book an appointment electronically than by phone. Over 90% of the respondents thought that it was easier to renew a prescription electronically, 76% obtained a better overview of their medications and 46% reported higher compliance. For non-clinical inquiries, most respondents (60%) thought that it was easier to write electronic messages than communicate by phone. For clinical enquiries, many patients agreed that e-consultation could lead to a better followup (72%) and improved quality of treatment (58%). Users were highly satisfied with the services and recommended their use to others. Time saving was the most evident benefit for patients. This was confirmed by the differences in time spent using the digital health services compared with conventional approaches, all found to be statistically significant.ConclusionCitizens using e-consultation and other digital health services with their GP in Norway are satisfied and consider them as useful and efficient alternatives to conventional approaches.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patients’ use and experiences with e-consultation and other digital health services with their general practitioner in Norway: results from an online survey

Zanaboni

Fagerlund

2020

BMJ Open

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“… 9 Although 25% of GPs have exchanged emails with patients, it is not routine practice. 10 Only 6% of UK practices report using email regularly. Most have no plans to do so.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences with online consultation systems in primary care: case study of one early adopter site

Casey¹,

Shaw

Swinglehurst

2017

Br J Gen Pract

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BackgroundThere is a strong policy drive towards implementing alternatives to face-to-face consultations in general practice to improve access, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. These alternatives embrace novel technologies that are assumed to offer potential to improve care.AimTo explore the introduction of one online consultation system (Tele-Doc) and how it shapes working practices.Design and settingMixed methods case study in an inner-city general practice.MethodThe study was conducted through interviews with IT developers, clinicians, and administrative staff, and scrutiny of documents, websites, and demonstrator versions of Tele-Doc, followed by thematic analysis and discourse analysis.ResultsThree interrelated themes were identified: online consultation systems as innovation, managing the ‘messiness’ of general practice consultations, and redistribution of the work of general practice. These themes raise timely questions about what it means to consult in contemporary general practice. Uptake of Tele-Doc by patients was low. Much of the work of the consultation was redistributed to patients and administrators, sometimes causing misunderstandings. The ‘messiness’ of consultations was hard to eliminate. In-house training focused on the technical application rather than associated transformations to practice work that were not anticipated. GPs welcomed varied modes of consulting, but the aspiration of improved efficiency was not realised in practice.ConclusionTele-Doc offers a new kind of consultation that is still being worked out in practice. It may offer convenience for patients with discrete, single problems, and a welcome variation to GPs’ workload. Tele-Doc’s potential for addressing more complex problems and achieving efficiency is less clear, and its adoption may involve unforeseeable consequences.

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“…O uso de novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação em saúde tem crescido nas últimas décadas, com o advento do uso de e-mail e de mídias sociais, que dinamizam o fluxo de dados e informações para a tomada de decisão de gerentes e gestores, assim como contribuem para a questão da produção do conhecimento em redes e ampliação dos canais de comunicação para acesso aos serviços de saúde (Norman & Tesser, 2015;Atherton, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Violência doméstica como tema transversal na formação profissional da área de saúde

Machado

Silva

Simões

et al. 2020

RSD

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Objective: to investigate domestic violence as a cross - cutting theme in the professional training of undergraduate health courses. Method: qualitative study of the descriptive-exploratory type, carried out with 32 undergraduate students in nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy and medicine. We used the semi-structured interview for data collection and for data analysis the content analysis technique. Results: Domestic violence is being addressed in undergraduate courses in the health area restricted to some disciplines, not taking into account the complexity of the problem and facing future professionals to people in situations of domestic violence. Conclusion: domestic violence needs to be discussed during the professional training in a transversal way, and it is necessary to include the theme in the curricula for theoretical-practical articulation, including the construction of learning and development of skills and abilities that can subsidize professional practice.

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Use of email for consulting with patients in general practice

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Patients’ use and experiences with e-consultation and other digital health services with their general practitioner in Norway: results from an online survey

Patients’ use and experiences with e-consultation and other digital health services with their general practitioner in Norway: results from an online survey

Experiences with online consultation systems in primary care: case study of one early adopter site

Violência doméstica como tema transversal na formação profissional da área de saúde

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