Virtual primary care in high-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic: Policy responses and lessons for the future.

IF 2.3 4区 医学 Q2 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Ana Luisa Neves, Edmond Li, Pramendra Prasad Gupta, Gianluca Fontana, Ara Darzi
{"title":"Virtual primary care in high-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic: Policy responses and lessons for the future.","authors":"Ana Luisa Neves,&nbsp;Edmond Li,&nbsp;Pramendra Prasad Gupta,&nbsp;Gianluca Fontana,&nbsp;Ara Darzi","doi":"10.1080/13814788.2021.1965120","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Telemedicine, once defined merely as the treatment of certain conditions remotely, has now often been supplanted in use by broader terms such as 'virtual care', in recognition of its increasing capability to deliver a diverse range of healthcare services from afar. With the unexpected onset of COVID-19, virtual care (e.g. telephone, video, online) has become essential to facilitating the continuation of primary care globally. Over several short weeks, existing healthcare policies have adapted quickly and empowered clinicians to use digital means to fulfil a wide range of clinical responsibilities, which until then have required face-to-face consultations.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This paper aims to explore the virtual care policies and guidance material published during the initial months of the pandemic and examine their potential limitations and impact on transforming the delivery of primary care in high-income countries.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A rapid review of publicly available national policies guiding the use of virtual care in General Practice was conducted. Documents were included if issued in the first six months of the pandemic (March to August of 2020) and focussed primarily on high-income countries. Documents must have been issued by a national health authority, accreditation body, or professional organisation, and directly refer to the delivery of primary care.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We extracted six areas of relevance: primary care transformation during COVID-19, the continued delivery of preventative care, the delivery of acute care, remote triaging, funding & reimbursement, and security standards.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Virtual care use in primary care saw a transformative change during the pandemic. However, despite the advances in the various governmental guidance offered, much work remains in addressing the shortcomings exposed during COVID-19 and strengthening viable policies to better incorporate novel technologies into the modern primary care clinical environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":54380,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of General Practice","volume":"27 1","pages":"241-247"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8404680/pdf/","citationCount":"25","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of General Practice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2021.1965120","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 25

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine, once defined merely as the treatment of certain conditions remotely, has now often been supplanted in use by broader terms such as 'virtual care', in recognition of its increasing capability to deliver a diverse range of healthcare services from afar. With the unexpected onset of COVID-19, virtual care (e.g. telephone, video, online) has become essential to facilitating the continuation of primary care globally. Over several short weeks, existing healthcare policies have adapted quickly and empowered clinicians to use digital means to fulfil a wide range of clinical responsibilities, which until then have required face-to-face consultations.

Objectives: This paper aims to explore the virtual care policies and guidance material published during the initial months of the pandemic and examine their potential limitations and impact on transforming the delivery of primary care in high-income countries.

Methods: A rapid review of publicly available national policies guiding the use of virtual care in General Practice was conducted. Documents were included if issued in the first six months of the pandemic (March to August of 2020) and focussed primarily on high-income countries. Documents must have been issued by a national health authority, accreditation body, or professional organisation, and directly refer to the delivery of primary care.

Results: We extracted six areas of relevance: primary care transformation during COVID-19, the continued delivery of preventative care, the delivery of acute care, remote triaging, funding & reimbursement, and security standards.

Conclusion: Virtual care use in primary care saw a transformative change during the pandemic. However, despite the advances in the various governmental guidance offered, much work remains in addressing the shortcomings exposed during COVID-19 and strengthening viable policies to better incorporate novel technologies into the modern primary care clinical environment.

2019冠状病毒病大流行期间高收入国家的虚拟初级保健:政策应对和未来的经验教训
背景:远程医疗,曾经仅仅被定义为远程治疗某些疾病,现在在使用中经常被更广泛的术语所取代,如“虚拟护理”,因为人们认识到远程提供各种医疗保健服务的能力日益增强。随着COVID-19的意外爆发,虚拟医疗(如电话、视频、在线)已成为促进全球初级保健持续发展的关键。在短短几周内,现有的医疗保健政策迅速调整,使临床医生能够使用数字手段履行广泛的临床责任,而在此之前,这些责任需要面对面的咨询。目的:本文旨在探讨大流行最初几个月期间发布的虚拟保健政策和指导材料,并审查其潜在局限性和对改变高收入国家初级保健提供方式的影响。方法:对指导在全科实践中使用虚拟护理的公开可用的国家政策进行快速审查。包括在大流行的前六个月(2020年3月至8月)发布的文件,主要侧重于高收入国家。文件必须由国家卫生主管部门、认证机构或专业组织颁发,并直接涉及初级保健的提供。结果:我们提取了六个相关领域:COVID-19期间的初级保健转型、预防性护理的持续提供、急性护理的提供、远程分诊、资金和报销以及安全标准。结论:在大流行期间,初级保健中的虚拟护理使用发生了变革性变化。然而,尽管政府提供的各种指导取得了进展,但在解决COVID-19期间暴露的缺陷和加强可行政策以更好地将新技术纳入现代初级保健临床环境方面仍有许多工作要做。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
European Journal of General Practice
European Journal of General Practice PRIMARY HEALTH CARE-MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
5.90%
发文量
31
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: The EJGP aims to: foster scientific research in primary care medicine (family medicine, general practice) in Europe stimulate education and debate, relevant for the development of primary care medicine in Europe. Scope The EJGP publishes original research papers, review articles and clinical case reports on all aspects of primary care medicine (family medicine, general practice), providing new knowledge on medical decision-making, healthcare delivery, medical education, and research methodology. Areas covered include primary care epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, non-drug interventions, multi- and comorbidity, palliative care, shared decision making, inter-professional collaboration, quality and safety, training and teaching, and quantitative and qualitative research methods.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信