General practitioner preferences for telehealth consultations in Australia: a pilot survey and discrete choice experiment.

Publisher: Cambridge University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100897390 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1477-1128 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14634236 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Prim Health Care Res Dev Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press
Original Publication: London : Arnold, c2000-

General Practitioners*/statistics & numerical data ; COVID-19* ; Telemedicine*/statistics & numerical data ; Telemedicine*/methods; Humans ; Australia ; Female ; Male ; Pilot Projects ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Choice Behavior ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Pandemics ; Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data

Aim: To identify and quantify general practitioner (GP) preferences related to service attributes of clinical consultations, including telehealth consultations, in Australia.
Background: GPs have been increasingly using telehealth to deliver patient care since the onset of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. GP preferences for telehealth service models will play an important role in the uptake and sustainability of telehealth services post-pandemic.
Methods: An online survey was used to ask GPs general telehealth questions and have them complete a discrete choice experiment (DCE). The DCE elicited GP preferences for various service attributes of telehealth (telephone and videoconference) consultations. The DCE investigated five service attributes, including consultation mode, consultation purpose, consultation length, quality of care and rapport, and patient co-payment. Participants were presented with eight choice sets, each containing three options to choose from. Descriptive statistics was used, and mixed logit models were used to estimate and analyse the DCE data.
Findings: A total of 60 GPs fully completed the survey. Previous telehealth experiences impacted direct preferences towards telehealth consultations across clinical presentations, although in-person modes were generally favoured (in approximately 70% of all scenarios). The DCE results lacked statistical significance which demonstrated undiscernible differences between GP preferences for some service attributes. However, it was found that GPs prefer to provide a consultation with good quality care and rapport ( P < 002). GPs would also prefer to provide care to their patients rather than decline a consultation due to consultation mode, length or purpose ( P < 0.0001). Based on the findings, GPs value the ability to provide high-quality care and develop rapport during a clinical consultation. This highlights the importance of recognising value-based care for future policy reforms, to ensure continued adoption and sustainability of GP telehealth services in Australia.

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Keywords: COVID-19; economics; general practice; preferences; primary care; telehealth

Date Created: 20240509 Date Completed: 20240509 Latest Revision: 20240516

20240516

PMC11091543

10.1017/S1463423624000136

38721700