Imperial College London
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MsNikiO'Brien

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer

Visiting Researcher
 
 
 
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Contact

 

n.obrien

 
 
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Location

 

Norfolk PlaceSt Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Campbell:2023:10.2196/48920,
author = {Campbell, K and Greenfield, G and Li, E and O'Brien, N and Hayhoe, B and Beaney, T and Majeed, A and Neves, AL},
doi = {10.2196/48920},
journal = {Journal of Medical Internet Research},
pages = {1--17},
title = {The impact of virtual consultations on the quality of primary care: a systematic review},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/48920},
volume = {25},
year = {2023}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Background: The adoption of virtual consultations, catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, has transformed the delivery of primary care services. Due to its rapid global proliferation, there is a need to comprehensively evaluate the impact of virtual consultations on all aspects of care quality.Objective: We evaluated the impact of virtual consultations on the quality of primary care.  Methods: Six databases were searched. Studies evaluating the impact of virtual consultations, for any disease, were included. Title and abstract screening, and full-text screening were performed by two pairs of investigators. Risk of bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A narrative synthesis of the results was performed.Findings: Thirty studies (5,469,333 participants) were included in the review. Our findings suggest that virtual consultations are equally or more effective than F2F care for the management of conditions including mental illness, excessive smoking, and alcohol consumption. Four studies indicated positive impacts on some aspects of patient-centredness, however, a negative impact was noted on patients’ perceived autonomy support (i.e., the degree to which people perceive others in positions of authority to be autonomy supportive). Virtual consultations may reduce waiting times, lower patient costs, and reduce rates of follow-up in secondary and tertiary care. The evidence for the impact on clinical safety is extremely limited. Evidence regarding equity was considerably mixed. Overall, it appears that virtual care is more likely to be used by younger, female patients, with disparities between other subgroups depending on contextual factors.Conclusions: Our systematic review has demonstrated that virtual consultations may be equally as effective as F2F care and have a potentially positive impact on the efficiency and timeliness of care However, there is a considerable lack of evidence on the impacts on patient safety, equity, and patient-centredness
AU  - Campbell,K
AU  - Greenfield,G
AU  - Li,E
AU  - O'Brien,N
AU  - Hayhoe,B
AU  - Beaney,T
AU  - Majeed,A
AU  - Neves,AL
DO  - 10.2196/48920
EP  - 17
PY  - 2023///
SN  - 1438-8871
SP  - 1
TI  - The impact of virtual consultations on the quality of primary care: a systematic review
T2  - Journal of Medical Internet Research
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/48920
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e48920
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/105712
VL  - 25
ER  -
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