The pilot with the digital gp platform Consultations is hit much better than expected. The plan was to carry out 600 online consultations within three months during the pilot project, which eventually became 4,000. “Digital care is being accepted in part because of the Corona crisis,” said Inez Teunissen, one of the people behind the platform, NU.nl.
The platform Consultations helps people to come into contact with a gp from a distance. A patient who wants to use the service fills out a questionnaire before the digital consultation. In addition, a patient can add a photo or video to give the doctor a better picture of the symptoms.
Spreekuur.nl was launched in March in Eemland (Amersfoort and Barneveld) due to the coronary crisis and a month later in the Rheinmond region. In total, around 1.3 million Dutch people can use the platform.
“Patients were very open to this platform. This meant that they did not have to come to the doctor’s office and therefore did not run the risk of being infected with the coronavirus,” explains Inez Teunissen of DigiDok, one of the companies behind the platform. “It also proved interesting for GPs to use it so they could continue to provide care during the Corona crisis.”
During the Corona peak, 40 percent of the consultations were coronary
According to Teunissen, at the height of the Corona outbreak, 40 percent of the consultations related to the coronavirus were. Throughout the pilot project, about 10 to 15 percent of consultations related to the virus were. In addition, patients used Spreekuur.nl mainly for skin discomfort, wounds, bruises and eye discomfort.
According to Teunissen, the ability to send photos or take picture bubbles is a stroke of luck. “For example, when cutting, it’s very difficult to judge on the phone how serious it is. Now patients can send a photo, then you can immediately see if the wound needs stitches and the patient does not necessarily have to go to the office of the family doctor.”
During the pilot project in Eemland, more than half of the consultations now taking place online would normally have required a visit to the doctor. “Normally, 54% of patients who received a consultation in Eemland as part of a consultation would have visited the gp site.”
The platform is now rolled out in Drenthe. The aim is to give half of the Dutch platform access to the platform within five years.
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