Videoconsultatie in de huisartsenpraktijk

Objective

To study whether patients require video consultations in general practice and whether or not video consultation is feasible.

Design

Semi-structured interviews and a pilot study in practice.

Method

We interviewed 25 visitors to the general practice on their views on video consultations in a health centre in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Furthermore, we studied and evaluated the feasibility of video consultation for 21 patients.

Results

Patients' opinions on video consultations differed. Few patients felt that video consultation was suitable for a first contact in a disease episode, and hardly any patient saw possibilities for video consultations from their work station. Many patients favoured the possibility of specialists or family members joining the consultation from a remote location. Although technical problems occurred in more than 80% of consultations, over 80% of patients were satisfied after the video consultation had taken place.

Conclusion

The need for video consultation in general practice is limited. Although many technical problems occurred, video consultations are feasible and can be conducted satisfactorily in practice.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.