ArticleDigital health
What do we need to consider when planning, implementing and researching the use of alternatives to face-to-face consultations in primary healthcare?
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of remote care approaches on continuity in primary care: a mixed-studies systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Pooled it
- Evolution of the general practice receptionist role and online services: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Patient experiences of remote consulting with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Access systems in general practice: a systematic scoping review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Implementation of a Web-Based Outpatient Asynchronous Consultation Service: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- What helps patients access web-based services in primary care? Free-text analysis of patient responses to the Di-Facto questionnaire.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Redesigning primary care: Provider perspectives on the clinical utility of virtual visits.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2023Article
- Digital Facilitation to Support Patient Access to Web-Based Primary Care Services: Scoping Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Unintended consequences of online consultations: a qualitative study in UK primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Factors Affecting Utilization of the E-Health "Seha" Interactive Application for Online Medical Consultation in Saudi Arabia.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2022Article
- Guidance for Implementing Video Consultations in Danish General Practice: Rapid Cycle Coproduction Study.JMIR formative research · 2021Article
- [Impact of the eConsultation on the primary care agenda].Atencion primaria · 2021Observational
- Distributed Solutions for a Reliable Data-Driven Transformation of Healthcare Management and Research.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Barriers and Enablers in Implementing Electronic Consultations in Primary Care: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- Article
- Exploring patients' and clinicians' experiences of video consultations in primary care: a systematic scoping review.BJGP open · 2020Article
- Article
- Remote follow-up using patient-reported outcome measures in patients with chronic kidney disease: the PROKID study - study protocol for a non-inferiority pragmatic randomised controlled trial.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Comparing the content and quality of video, telephone, and face-to-face consultations: a non-randomised, quasi-experimental, exploratory study in UK primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
- Acceptability, benefits, and challenges of video consulting: a qualitative study in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesCommunications technologies are variably utilised in healthcare. Policymakers globally have espoused the potential benefits of alternatives to face-to-face consultations, but research is in its infancy. The aim of this essay is to provide thinking tools for policymakers, practitioners and researchers who are involved in planning, implementing and evaluating alternative forms of consultation in primary care.
methodsWe draw on preparations for a focussed ethnographic study being conducted in eight general practice settings in the UK, knowledge of the literature, qualitative social science and Cochrane reviews. In this essay we consider different types of patients, and also reflect on how the work, practice and professional identities of different members of staff in primary care might be affected.
resultsElements of practice are inevitably lost when consultations are no longer face-to-face, and we know little about the impact on core aspects of the primary care relationship. Resistance to change is normal and concerns about the introduction of alternative methods of consultation are often expressed using proxy reasons; for example, concerns about patient safety. Any planning or research in the field of new technologies should be attuned to the potential for unintended consequences.
conclusionsImplementation of alternatives to the face-to-face consultation is more likely to succeed if approached as co-designed initiatives that start with the least controversial and most promising changes for the practice. Researchers and evaluators should explore actual experiences of the different consultation types amongst patients and the primary care team rather than hypothetical perspectives.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.