Primary Care Professionals’ Acceptance of Medical Record-Based, Store and Forward Provider-to-Provider Telemedicine in Catalonia: Results of a Web-Based Survey

Josep Vidal-Alaball, Francesc López Seguí, Josep Lluís Garcia Domingo, Gemma Flores Mateo, Gloria Sauch Valmaña, Anna Ruiz-Comellas, Francesc X Marín-Gomez and Francesc García Cuyàs
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Josep Vidal-Alaball: Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Francesc López Seguí: TIC Salut Social-Generalitat de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Josep Lluís Garcia Domingo: Department of Economics and Business, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, 08500 Vic, Spain
Gemma Flores Mateo: Unitat d’anàlisi i qualitat. Xarxa Sanitària i Social de Santa Tecla, 43003 Tarragona, Spain
Gloria Sauch Valmaña: Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Anna Ruiz-Comellas: Health Promotion in Rural Areas Research Group, Gerència Territorial de la Catalunya Central, Institut Català de la Salut, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Francesc X Marín-Gomez: Unitat de Suport a la Recerca de la Catalunya Central, Fundació Institut Universitari per a la recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, 08272 Sant Fruitós de Bages, Spain
Francesc García Cuyàs: Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Catalan Ministry of Health, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: While telemedicine services enjoy a high acceptance among the public, evidence regarding clinician’s acceptance, a key factor for sustainable telemedicine services, is mixed. However, telemedicine is generally better accepted by both patients and professionals who live in rural areas, as it can save them significant time. The objective of this study is to assess the acceptance of medical record-based, store and forward provider-to-provider telemedicine among primary care professionals and to describe the factors which may determine their future use. This is an observational cross-sectional study using the Catalan version of the Health Optimum questionnaire; a technology acceptance model-based validated survey comprised of eight short questions. The online, voluntary response poll was sent to all 661 primary care professionals in 17 primary care teams that had potentially used the telemedicine services of the main primary care provider in Catalonia, in the Central Catalan Region. The majority of respondents rated the quality of telemedicine consultations as “Excellent” or “Good” (83%). However, nearly 60% stated that they sometimes had technical, organizational or other difficulties, which might affect the quality of care delivered. These negatively predicted their declared future use ( p = 0.001). The quality of telemedicine services is perceived as good overall for all the parameters studied, especially among nurses. It is important that policymakers examine and provide solutions for the technical and organizational difficulties detected (e.g., by providing training), in order to ensure the use of these services in the future.

Keywords: telemedicine; primary health care; acceptability of health care; surveys and questionnaires (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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