What do patients really think about online consultation systems?
They have been rapidly rolled out since the pandemic, but little has been known about patients’ experiences of using them – until now.
In a new study, published today in the British Journal of General Practice, it was found that most feel them to be quicker to use, more flexible, and more efficient than traditional GP consultations.
Led by our Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ben Brown, it is the largest study of patient views ever carried out on the topic. It involved the collection of 21,467 written comments from almost 12,000 patients at 240 GP practices across England, and also included in-depth interviews with 25 patients.
As Dr Brown notes, “Those who struggle to communicate during in-person appointments, such as patients with autism, hearing loss and anxiety, prefer using online consultations. And some patients, especially men, prefer discussing sensitive topics online.”
Patients also reported a particular appreciation for online consultation systems when seeking help for a simple complaint, such as a rash or a cold.
However, some patients stated a preference for traditional methods of consultation, and grew frustrated if practice staff did not respond to their requests quickly enough, or if the online consultation system was felt to be poorly designed.
This frustration was most notable when it came to systems that force patients to shoehorn their problem into one of a limited number of options, using multiple-choice questionnaires.
Instead, what patients prefer is being able to describe their symptoms in their own words via free-text responses, as Patchs permits them to do.
With important implications both for GP practices and for the designers of online consultation systems, the study is being reported on across national media:
- ITV News – including a video interview with Dr Brown
- Pulse Today
- The Independent
- The Daily Mail
- GP Online
You can read the full research paper at the British Journal of General Practice here, and read our Case Study here.