NCT01124968

eConculta: Impact of Virtual Visits in Primary Care

Before and After Study to Assess the Impact of the Use of Virtual Consultation on Frequency of Patient Attendance, and Satisfaction of Patients and Professionals

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 16,720 (actual)
• Sponsor: Institut Catala de Salut · Other Government
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

eConsulta is a before and after quasi-experimental study without control group and its purpose is to asses the impact of virtual visits in primary care on the frequency of attendance of the patients to the primary care centre. The use of virtual consultations should lower the number of face to face visits to primary care. It also should create satisfaction to both users: primary care professionals and patients.

Detailed description

Excess on primary care face to face demands generates a work overload for the professionals, and it could lead to a lower quality of care and less job satisfaction. Not all primary care demands need a face to face encounter so incorporating new technologies into daily practice care such as communication doctor/nurse-patient through a website could be part of the solution. So we designed a study in order to assess the impact of the use of virtual consultation on frequency of attendance and the satisfaction of patients and professionals with the service. It is a before after quasi-experimental multi-centre study with no control group. Agreed voluntarily to participate 13 primary care centres, 20 primary care physicians, 17 nurses them having 16.720 reference adult patients. We designed a website where participants can access the internet and consult their doctor/nurse, who will answer within 48 hours at maximum. The intervention will last 6 months. We believe that the site can be useful by both patient and professional. For some types of patient, the use of the site may increase its accessibility, reduce face to face consultations and improve satisfaction, while the professional makes a more efficient practice.

Conditions

• Adult

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	eConsulta	It is a web specifically designed for the project where elected patients can consult virtually with their primary care physician and within 48 hours have an answer.

Timeline

• Start date: 2009-01-01
• Primary completion: 2010-12-01
• Completion: 2010-12-01
• First posted: 2010-05-18
• Last updated: 2011-02-08

Locations

13 sites across 1 country: Spain