Number of patients attending virtual clinics with GPs soared during pandemic
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The number of people attending virtual clinics with their GPs has soared during the pandemic.
A recent survey showed the number of people opting to attend these clinics has increased by 280% during the Covid crisis.
Before the virus arrived in Ireland, just 5% of people had attended a virtual clinic but this rose to 19% during the pandemic, according to the survey commissioned by Lero, a world leader in connected-health and ehealth research.
Half of people in Ireland said that they were likely to participate in a virtual health clinic in the future while 27% reported being unlikely to do so.
Virtual appointments being less time consuming and more convenient were among the benefits reported by users of such services.
The survey, conducted by Red C Research, found 84% of people believe medics would get a better understanding of their condition in an in-person consultation.
Professor Ita Richardson, from the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at the University of Limerick, said digital solutions can only support healthcare and there is still a need for patient-clinician face-to-face consultation.
While more people are attending virtual clinics or consultations, there are serious concerns surrounding privacy and security.
Of the 1,000 plus people surveyed about virtual clinics, 56% had concerns about privacy and security while 26% did not have such problems.
Prof Richardson, Lero principal investigator, said: "Like other domains, healthcare is being transformed through the implementation of digital solutions.
"The survey results show us that the Irish population is prepared to go with this, as long as there is an awareness of regulations, privacy and security."
Although there are concerns surrounding data security, seven out of ten people are in favour of the electronic storage of their personal health records that are accessible by both themselves and their doctors.
This is a decrease from two years ago when, in a similar survey conducted by Lero in 2018, 81% of the population were in favour of a personal electronic health record that could be accessed by their GP and hospitals.
The vast majority (90%) of people believe the introduction of electronic health records would have to be accompanied by strong cybersecurity measures.
A large number of people believe the introduction of electronic health records would improve the Irish health system.
Another issue that concerned the vast majority of those surveyed is that virtual clinics exclude those who do not have the appropriate technology or who are not confident in using technology.