“Get Used to the Fact That Some of the Care Is Really Going to Take Place in a Different Way”: General Practitioners’ Experiences with E-Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Maaike Meurs, Jelle Keuper, Valerie Sankatsing, Ronald Batenburg and Lilian van Tuyl
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Maaike Meurs: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), 3513 CR Utrecht, The Netherlands
Jelle Keuper: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), 3513 CR Utrecht, The Netherlands
Valerie Sankatsing: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), 3513 CR Utrecht, The Netherlands
Ronald Batenburg: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), 3513 CR Utrecht, The Netherlands
Lilian van Tuyl: Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), 3513 CR Utrecht, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: The first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the introduction of the more extensive use of e-health in Dutch general practices. The objective of this study was to investigate the experiences of general practitioners (GPs) regarding this change. In addition, the necessary conditions for e-health technology to be of added value to general practices were explored. In April 2020, 30 GPs were recruited for in-depth interviews via a web survey which contained questions regarding the use of e-health during the first wave of the pandemic. While most GPs intend to keep using e-health applications more extensively than before the pandemic, the actual use of e-health depends on several factors, including the characteristics of the application’s users. The following conditions for successful and sustainable implementation of e-health were identified: (1) integration of e-health technology in the organization of GP care, (2) sufficient user-friendliness of applications as well as digital skills of professionals and patients, and (3) adequate technological and financial support of e-health services. GPs clearly recognize the benefits of using e-health, and most GPs intend to keep using e-health applications more extensively than before the pandemic. However, improvements are needed to allow widespread and sustainable adoption of e-health technology in general practices.

Keywords: e-health; COVID-19; general practice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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