Teleconsultation Between Patients and Healthcare Professionals in the Catalan Primary Care Service: a pre-COVID19 analysis

A new study by the TIC Salut Social Foundation and the eHealth Office (Catalan Health Service) concludes that almost 80% of teleconsultations with primary care (eConsulta) avoid a face-to-face visit.

The analysis of more than 5,000 cases by 20 health professionals also shows the most frequent uses were for management of test results (27%), the management of repeat prescriptions (24%) and medical enquiries (14%). In the absence of a service like eConsulta, about 35% of the patients would not have made a face-to-face visit, also suggesting that telemedicine increases the accessibility of the health system. Results are similar to a 2018 study, thus giving robust support to the eConsulta’s usage. For the first time, the degree of consensus among the professionals who participated in the analysis was evaluated, showing that, in general, they agree with their opinions, a key factor in understanding the results of possible applications based on Artificial Intelligence.

COVID19 has changed the models of face-to-face and virtual relationships between citizens and the public health system. Future studies need evaluate and improve the provision of services to the citizen.

Number of messages and conversations (left axis) and patients and healthcare professional users (right axis).