Digitalization: Is the grand promise of video consultations coming true?
A new study from the USA is raising doubts: Are digital doctor visits really replacing in-person appointments or do they ultimately lead to even more doctor contacts?
Berlin - The German government aims to expand video consultations, envisioning them to play a larger role in the planned primary care system. Patients needing prescriptions, laboratory values discussed, or grievances resolved would no longer have to physically queue. The theory suggests doctors could gain more time to examine patients.
However, a new study from researchers at the Universities of Arizona and Pennsylvania casts doubt on whether this theory works in practice. They discovered that patients who initially spoke to a doctor via video were more likely to end up in a practice or emergency room afterwards, compared to those who did not opt for the video consultation.
For the German reform plans, this result could be relevant. According to the US researchers, this does not automatically imply that video consultations worsen care, as they cause only additional work for doctors. Instead, they found evidence of an additional effect: some patients use the video consultation to raise issues they otherwise might not have visited a doctor for.
This challenges the expectation of the German government that video consultations can replace personal contact with a doctor and relieve practices.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
