Patients are more and more willing to use e-visits to doctors [SONDAŻ]

Telemedicine is the preferred form of contact with a doctor by three-quarters of respondents in the case of prescription renewal. A survey in which Poles were asked about their preferences regarding specialist telemedicine consultations was conducted in January 2022 by the Biostat Research and Development Center®, as part of cooperation with the Medonet portal. We present the third part of a comprehensive report on the latest telemedicine opinion poll.

1. Three-fourths of Poles prefer to extend the prescription during an e-visit instead of in the office
2. Two-thirds of Poles believe that remote medical assistance increases safety during a pandemic
3. Already 36,5 percent. of the respondents want to use the e-visit at the GP
4. Almost 89 percent The survey participants will first report directly to a doctor for a diagnosis of their health condition
5. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

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The vast majority of the surveyed Poles would prefer a direct meeting with a doctor in a primary health care clinic or a specialist’s office in the event of a diagnosis of health (88,7%), consultations after an illness (77%), and also – although less often – referrals for hospital treatment (67,8%).

Every fifth Pole is in favor of a compulsory e-visit before a face-to-face meeting, although 27,4 percent. strongly opposes this. Only e-visits, instead of face-to-face meetings with a doctor, are currently preferred by 19,2% of respondents. Poles, and a total of 57 percent. prefers visiting a doctor in the office.

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E-visits and medical specializations

When asked how they perceive the role of e-visit, the respondents most often agreed that it would only work for selected specialists. In total, 55,2 percent. of those questioned expressed such an opinion. Poles are quite cautious when it comes to using telemedicine. Currently, a total of 23,1 percent. of respondents admit that an e-visit may replace a face-to-face meeting with a doctor the first time. In total, 54,1 percent. On the other hand, the respondents think the opposite – that the e-visit will not replace a direct meeting with a doctor.

Interestingly, men (23,4% in total) more often than women (17,9% in total) admit that an e-visit should be compulsory before a face-to-face meeting with a specialist in the office.

When asked which specialists they would prefer to contact directly, Poles most often indicated a cardiologist (65,8%). More than half of the respondents would prefer direct contact with a dermatologist (53,9%), a neurologist (53,2%) and an internist (52,6%). The respondents least frequently indicated the need to maintain direct contact with a dietitian (17,8%).

The respondents most often want to use remote telemedicine advice from an internist (36,5%)., but also consultation with a nurse (29,3%). 17,2 percent of respondents indicated that they were interested in remote psychiatrist counseling. One in nine would benefit from an e-visit to an allergist and dermatologist. The gynecologist was definitely the least frequent in this case (3,1%).

Women more than men are interested in telemedicine counseling from a psychiatrist (20,1% of women compared to 13,9% of men). On the other hand, men are more likely to use cardiological telemedicine (11% of men compared to 6,4% of women).

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What do Poles value the e-visit for?

The survey participants were also asked what is most important to them when arranging an e-visit. For almost half of the respondents, it is important to be able to obtain advice quickly in an emergency (49,5%), while for over 1/3 of respondents it is important to be able to conveniently obtain an e-prescription (36,4%) and choose the date of an e-visit (35,6%). The ability to conveniently obtain an e-leave is a significant factor when arranging a remote medical consultation in every tenth Pole surveyed (9,7%).

The possibility of obtaining quick advice in an emergency is of the greatest importance when arranging a remote medical consultation, more often according to women (53,8%) than men (44,7%).

Telemedicine – what equipment do we most often use?

9 out of 10 respondents are willing to use the telephone during e-visits, while two-thirds of Poles (91,2%) are ready to use the communicator. Among the above-mentioned, the least often respondents indicated that they are willing to use telemedicine equipment during an e-visit (66,8%).

Men (40,1%) are slightly more likely to use telemedicine equipment (e.g. cardiology) during e-visits than women (28,2%), who are clearly against this type of research (71,8% of women do not I want to use this type of apparatus).

Men are also slightly more ready to use smartwatches or a smartband (47,8%) than women (37,8% with 62,2% objecting).

Find out more: E-stethoscope, that is, a distance study. How it’s working?

Advantages of e-visits

For more than half of the respondents, an important advantage of remote medical assistance is the possibility of easy and quick registration at a distance (52,9%), less than two fifths of the respondents considered the possibility of quick help to the patient (39,6%) and shorter time periods as an advantage of this form of counseling (38,8%). waiting for specialist advice (XNUMX%).

More than 1/3 of respondents indicated that for them the advantage of remote medical assistance is the possibility of easy and quick diagnosis of a patient (35,2%). The respondents least frequently indicated the possibility of constant patient monitoring (10,9%) as the advantage of remote medical assistance.

More than three-quarters of respondents consider financing from the National Health Fund (76,4%) the appropriate form of payment for remote medical assistance.

1. How do you pay for telemedicine advice? How much are?

Two-thirds of Poles believe that remote medical assistance means greater safety during a pandemic (66,8%). The respondents indicated that it was associated with shorter waiting times (57,7% of positive responses). The survey participants had the most doubts that remote advice was associated with lower costs of medical services (37,4%) and the fact that it was the only possible contact with a specialist doctor in the current situation (33,7%).

The survey “Health of Poles – telemedicine in 2021” was carried out from 10 to 17 January 2022 by the BioStat® Research and Development Center using the CAWI method on a group of 2000 adult Poles, representative in terms of gender, age and province. Media cooperation: MedTvoiLokony.

The editorial board recommends:

1. Part one of the report: Telemedicine is becoming more and more popular. «Patients praise each other very much»
2. Part two of the report: Almost 63 percent Poles are looking for a treatment on the Internet
3. “Telemedicine is a blessing in a pandemic.” The government is preparing big changes for patients

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