ArticlePLOS digital health2022
General practitioners' perceptions of using virtual primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international cross-sectional survey study.
Article in PLOS digital health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Patient perceptions of advance care planning within primary care: a systematic review of facilitators and barriers.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- General practitioners' experience about synchronous teleconsultation in primary care: a mixed-method systematic review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Virtual care pathways for people living with HIV: A mixed-methods systematic review.HIV medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Implementing remote death certification in Japan: a nationwide cross-sectional study of awareness, barriers and facilitators.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Comparing the quality of video and phone consultations in primary care telemedicine: a cross-sectional study of over 180,000 appointments.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Virtual Care and Compassion for Migrants and Refugees: A Scoping Review.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Review
- Older Chinese migrants' experiences of remote primary care in England: a semi-structured interview study.BJGP open · 2026Article
- What Can We Learn From Nurses' Experiences of Digital Technology Implementation During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Qualitative Study.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Teleophthalmology adoption and perceived barriers among Colombian general practitioners: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- 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
- Community dwelling older adults' decision to, and experience of attending the Emergency Department during COVID-19: a qualitative study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Impact of the cost-of-living crisis on patient preferences towards virtual consultations.Journal of telemedicine and telecare · 2025Article
- Burnout Among Primary Care Practitioners and Staff in VA Clinics Using Virtual Contingency Staffing.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Exploring Compassionate Care in Virtual Rehabilitation: Qualitative Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2025Article
- The Dynamics of Doctor-Patient Communication During Remote Consultations: Qualitative Study Among Norwegian Contract General Practitioners.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Global Evidence on the Sustainability of Telemedicine in Outpatient and Primary Care During the First 2 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review Using the Nonadoption, Abandonment, Scale-Up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) Framework.Interactive journal of medical research · 2025Review
- Telemedicine for COVID-19 management in Brazil: outcomes and health system implications from a prospective cohort study.The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Article
- The Impact and Wider Implications of Remote Consultations for General Practice in Norway: Qualitative Study Among Norwegian Contract General Practitioners.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Virtual Care Appointments and Experience Among Older Rural Patients with Chronic Conditions in New South Wales: An Analysis of Existing Survey Data.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
27 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With the onset of COVID-19, general practitioners (GPs) and patients worldwide swiftly transitioned from face-to-face to digital remote consultations. There is a need to evaluate how this global shift has impacted patient care, healthcare providers, patient and carer experience, and health systems. We explored GPs' perspectives on the main benefits and challenges of using digital virtual care. GPs across 20 countries completed an online questionnaire between June-September 2020. GPs' perceptions of main barriers and challenges were explored using free-text questions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. A total of 1,605 respondents participated in our survey. The benefits identified included reducing COVID-19 transmission risks, guaranteeing access and continuity of care, improved efficiency, faster access to care, improved convenience and communication with patients, greater work flexibility for providers, and hastening the digital transformation of primary care and accompanying legal frameworks. Main challenges included patients' preference for face-to-face consultations, digital exclusion, lack of physical examinations, clinical uncertainty, delays in diagnosis and treatment, overuse and misuse of digital virtual care, and unsuitability for certain types of consultations. Other challenges include the lack of formal guidance, higher workloads, remuneration issues, organisational culture, technical difficulties, implementation and financial issues, and regulatory weaknesses. At the frontline of care delivery, GPs can provide important insights on what worked well, why, and how during the pandemic. Lessons learned can be used to inform the adoption of improved virtual care solutions and support the long-term development of platforms that are more technologically robust and secure.
Identifiers
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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.