Changes to telehealth practices in primary care in New Brunswick (Canada): A comparative study pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Autor: Claire Johnson, Jérémie B Dupuis, Pierre Goguen, Gabrielle Grenier
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 11, p e0258839 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258839
Popis: BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth technologies were used in the primary health care setting in New Brunswick as a means to continue providing care to patients while following public health guidelines. This study aimed to measure these changes and examine if they improved timely access to primary care. A secondary goal was to identify which telehealth technologies were deemed sustainable by primary care providers.MethodsThis was a comparative study on the use of telehealth technology before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April 2020 and November 2020, 114 active primary care providers (family physicians or nurse practitioners) responded to the online survey.ResultsThe findings illustrated an increase in the use of telehealth technologies. The use of phone consultations increased by 122%, from 43.9% pre-pandemic to 97.6% during the pandemic (p < 0.001). The use of virtual consultation (19.3% pre-pandemic vs. 41.2% during the pandemic, p < 0.001), emails and texts also increased during the pandemic. Whereas the more structural organizational tools (electronic medical charts and reservation systems) remained stable. However, those changes did not coincide with a significant improvement to timely access to care during the pandemic. Many participants (40.1%) wanted to keep phone consultations, and 21.9% of participants wanted to keep virtual consultations as part of their long-term practice.InterpretationThe observed increase in the use of telehealth technologies may be sustainable, but it has not significantly improved timely access to primary care in New Brunswick.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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