Telehealth has long been a technology with considerable promise, that seemed to struggle for widespread adoption due as much to organizational inertia as any fundamental flaws in the technology itself.  The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has forced the hand of healthcare providers around the world, and new research from Warwick Medical School highlights how it’s been popular with doctors and patients alike.

The research explored the experience of both doctors and patients with telemedicine applications in primary care, and included analyses of seven studies conducted since 2010.  The analysis found that there was no clear consensus with studies showing a mixture of feelings towards video consultations, from both patients and staff.

Despite this, the evidence clearly shows that video consultations can be effective in allowing a rapport to be built between the patient and their primary doctor, and are an effective platform for routine appointments.

“Our review included studies that showed that routine visits were a good use for video consultations, but that patients with long-term conditions are more likely to prefer face-to-face consultations,” the researchers say.  “This is interesting because lots of the consultations in general practice are with people who are older and have long-term conditions, the same people who are most at risk in the current situation.”

Convenient access

Patients also regularly report how convenient they find the video consultations, with the ability to have consultations from home a major plus point, especially in areas where health coverage is not good and travel times are lengthy.

Opinions among doctors themselves tend to vary somewhat, depending in many cases on what the technology was used for.  They were also concerned that some patients would not have sufficient internet connectivity to make use of the technology, which would create a digital divide and worsen health inequalities.

“Remote consulting has already become a necessity in the current climate, and video is one of the options for delivering this,” the researchers say.  “It is likely that telephone consultations will become the default option for most practices because they are already well-established ways to consult. But where practices can deliver video consultations, or arrange a video consultation set up, the current crisis has quickly become a stimulus to do this, and the longer it goes on for, the greater the need to be able to see patients as well as talk to them.”

The use of telehealth platforms has long been technically feasible, and perhaps the greater need for continuity of service during the coronavirus outbreak will help overcome some of the organizational and cultural hurdles that have held adoption back thus far.