Use and acceptance of video consultation among adults insured by statutory health insurance providers in Germany: A nationwide online survey

Abstract

Introduction

The increasing digitalization of the healthcare system makes it possible to provide medical services using digital technologies without direct patient–provider contact. This study aimed to investigate 1) the use and acceptance of video consultation and 2) factors associated with the use of video consultation.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in February 2023. Overall, 20,000 adults insured at a statutory health insurance company in Germany (10,000 users and 10,000 non-users of video consultation) were invited by email to an online survey with 31 items. The items addressed use and acceptance of digital health services with a focus on video consultation, digital health literacy, and sociodemographic characteristics. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and factors associated with video consultation use were assessed using binary logistic regression.

Results

Among the 1,657 participants, 686 were users and 971 were non-users of video consultation. The participants were aged between 18 and 80 years (M ± SD: 44 ± 13 years), 55% were female, 59% reported a medium subjective socioeconomic status and 69% a good to very good health status. Video consultation was predominantly used following physician recommendations (71%) as part of general medical care (50%). The main reasons for using video consultation were time saving (93%) and flexibility in terms of location (87%). Most video consultation users felt well cared-for during video consulting (93%), would use it again (95%), and would recommend it to others (93%). Factors associated with video consultation use were age from 30 to 49 years, high subjective socioeconomic status, high digital health litercay, and very poor to moderate health status.

Conclusion

The acceptance of video consultations in this study was high. Advantages and barriers to offering video consultations from a physician perspective should be investigated to incorporate video consultations in everyday medical practice.