The Digital Entrance for Primary Care

Abstract

The current pandemic has drastically changed the primary care field. Suddenly, GP practices had to implement more digital or ‘care at a distance’ methods to keep interacting with patients. This was reflected by the strong increase in telephone consults and practices that used video calling for the first time. However, the sudden digital experience is not welcomed with open arms by patients and caregivers. 47% of the patient express that they are not positive about ‘care at a distance’ modalities (Meurs, 2020b), and approximately only a quarter of caregivers want to intensify e-consultation methods after the pandemic (Keuper, 2020). It is quite likely that after this pandemic, both groups return to the previous status quo, regardless of the benefits that eHealth and e-consultation can provide. The goal of this graduation project was to increase the adoption of e-consultation in primary care together with IZER. The graduation project followed the roadmapping process, starting with an analysis consisting of a literature study, qualitative interviews, and observations. During the research, caregivers and patients were thoroughly analysed to search for trends and wishes about (digital) primary care. The major discovered trends were the need for higher efficiency in the process due to the high effort of digitalisation, the demanded shift in control to the patient, the need for accessibility for the patient, the wish for digital to support the process, and the need for good communication. The result is DagKo: the Data-driven complaint support for patients in primary care (Data-gedreven Klacht Ondersteuning). DagKo is a software service that supports patients to do their triage independently and guides them towards the best next step concerning their complaint and medical history. The service uses data from previous patients with similar situations to analyse the most efficient and effective methods in a specific situation. Additionally, new consultation options are added to enhance the right care in the right situation. These additions consist of a data-driven virtual doctor, a monitoring program and a quickly accessible doctor service. The needs and wishes of the patients and caregivers were translated into DagKo. The software provides increased accessibility and control for the patients. It is an app that listens carefully to the user and gives options for the best suitable care. Because of the smart use of data, caregivers will be supported with suitable advice during their triage. Caregivers just have to confirm the suggested modality. This will result in an increase in efficiency for the caregivers, letting them give more attention to patients that need it by spending less time on simple situations. During the user-testing, patients experienced the two characteristics of the concept, the option to choose and data-driven advice based on effectiveness and efficiency, as positive. The additional modalities were ranked relatively positively, but due to the futuristic aspects were also harder to grasp. Caregivers also expressed support for the concept of DagKo. The caregiver acknowledged the potential of the gain in efficiency and it was recognized that the service is especially useful for filtering easier complaints.