IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i21p14119-d957031.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Face-to-Face and Tele-Consults: A Study of the Effects on Diagnostic Activity and Patient Demand in Primary Healthcare

Author

Listed:
  • Lourdes E. Barón-Miras

    (Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Antoni Sisó-Almirall

    (Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
    Primary Healthcare Transversal Research Group, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitat de Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Belchin Kostov

    (Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Encarna Sánchez

    (Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Silvia Roura

    (Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Jaume Benavent-Àreu

    (Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Luis González-de Paz

    (Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra (CAPSBE), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
    Primary Healthcare Transversal Research Group, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Primary healthcare services have changed from face-to-face to tele-consults during the two COVID-19 years. We examined trends before and during the COVID-19 pandemic years based on groups of professionals, patient ages, and the associations with the diagnostic registry. We analyzed proportions for both periods, and ratios of the type of consults in 2017–2019 and 2020–2021 were calculated. The COVID-19 period was examined using monthly linear time trends. The results showed that consults in 2020–2021 increased by 24%. General practitioners saw significant falls in face-to-face consults compared with 2017–2019 (ratio 0.44; 95% CI: 0.44 to 0.45), but the increase was not proportional across age groups; patients aged 15–44 years had 45.8% more tele-consults, and those aged >74 years had 18.2% more. Trends in linear regression models of face-to-face consults with general practitioners and monthly diagnostic activity were positive, while the tele-consult trend was inverse to the trend of the diagnostic registry and face-to-face consults. Tele-consults did not resolve the increased demand for primary healthcare services caused by COVID-19. General practitioners, nurses and primary healthcare professionals require better-adapted tele-consult tools for an effective diagnostic registry to maintain equity of access and answer older patients’ needs and priorities in primary healthcare.

Suggested Citation

  • Lourdes E. Barón-Miras & Antoni Sisó-Almirall & Belchin Kostov & Encarna Sánchez & Silvia Roura & Jaume Benavent-Àreu & Luis González-de Paz, 2022. "Face-to-Face and Tele-Consults: A Study of the Effects on Diagnostic Activity and Patient Demand in Primary Healthcare," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:14119-:d:957031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/14119/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/14119/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yu Song & Chenfei Qian & Susan Pickard, 2021. "Age-Related Digital Divide during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alicia Murciano-Hueso & Antonio-Víctor Martín-García & Ana Paula Cardoso, 2022. "Technology and Quality of Life of Older People in Times of COVID: A Qualitative Study on Their Changed Digital Profile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Siyu Zhou & Ziling Ni & Atsushi Ogihara & Xiaohe Wang, 2022. "Behavioral Patterns of Supply and Demand Sides of Health Services for the Elderly in Sustainable Digital Transformation: A Mixed Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-24, July.
    3. Ting Zhang & Rosalam Che Me & Hassan Alli, 2023. "The Usability Issues Encountered in the Design Features of Intelligent Products for Older Adults in China: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Yi Xue Fang & Sarjit S. Gill & Puvaneswaran Kunasekaran & Mohd Roslan Rosnon & Ahmad Tarmizi Talib & Azureen Abd Aziz, 2022. "Digital Divide: An Inquiry on the Native Communities of Sabah," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-22, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:14119-:d:957031. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.