Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic
Objectives Allied Health Professionals (AHP) consist of 13 different specialty roles in Wales, sharing the responsibility of promoting and supporting the health and well-being of the population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift in care provision, with the increased use of online consu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2023-05-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/5/e068176.full |
| _version_ | 1797824904376090624 |
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| author | Jessica Williams Gemma Johns Sara Khalil Mike Ogonovsky Alka Ahuja Kerrie Phipps |
| author_facet | Jessica Williams Gemma Johns Sara Khalil Mike Ogonovsky Alka Ahuja Kerrie Phipps |
| author_sort | Jessica Williams |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives Allied Health Professionals (AHP) consist of 13 different specialty roles in Wales, sharing the responsibility of promoting and supporting the health and well-being of the population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift in care provision, with the increased use of online consultations, such as those using video consultation platforms. However, this shift was associated with uncertainty and hesitancy, and, thus, to understand the usage and reasons for using video consultations, this study aimed to capture the experiences of both AHP and their patients, while investigating each role individually.Participants A survey was distributed to and completed by n=8928 patients and n=4974 clinicians, all AHP were included except for orthoptists and paramedics due to ambiguities in the data. A further 86 clinicians participated in phone interviews.Results All professions had a high prevention of face-to-face with the use of video consultations (68.6% overall and 81.4% of clinicians reported the prevention). However, this was lower for certain professions such as podiatrists, potentially due to the specific patient needs, such as physical assessments. Also, a range of different appointment types were being conducted, and there was a high acceptance of these alternative methods among participants. The interviews with clinicians revealed five important aspects of video consultations: the perceived benefits, the perceived challenges, technology issues and necessary improvements, clinician preference and the future of video consulting. Specifically, the future of video consulting evidenced clinicians’ desire for a blended approach to working, selecting the appropriate modality depending on the situation and patient-specific needs.Conclusions Integrating the traditional methods of service delivery (face-to-face), and novel, innovative ways, such as video consultations, can motivate positive transformations for the efficiency and efficacy of health and social care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:46:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-58a07ebe9d934c65bb00689cedf07b2b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:46:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-58a07ebe9d934c65bb00689cedf07b2b2023-05-17T18:00:07ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552023-05-0113510.1136/bmjopen-2022-068176Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemicJessica Williams0Gemma Johns1Sara Khalil2Mike Ogonovsky3Alka Ahuja4Kerrie Phipps51Emory University, Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Atlanta, Georgia, USATechnology Enabled Care Cymru, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Gwent, UKTEC Cymru Informatics, Aneurin Bevan Health Board, Gwent, UKTechnology Enabled Care Cymru, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Gwent, UKTechnology Enabled Care Cymru, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Gwent, UKHywel Dda Health Board, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, UKObjectives Allied Health Professionals (AHP) consist of 13 different specialty roles in Wales, sharing the responsibility of promoting and supporting the health and well-being of the population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift in care provision, with the increased use of online consultations, such as those using video consultation platforms. However, this shift was associated with uncertainty and hesitancy, and, thus, to understand the usage and reasons for using video consultations, this study aimed to capture the experiences of both AHP and their patients, while investigating each role individually.Participants A survey was distributed to and completed by n=8928 patients and n=4974 clinicians, all AHP were included except for orthoptists and paramedics due to ambiguities in the data. A further 86 clinicians participated in phone interviews.Results All professions had a high prevention of face-to-face with the use of video consultations (68.6% overall and 81.4% of clinicians reported the prevention). However, this was lower for certain professions such as podiatrists, potentially due to the specific patient needs, such as physical assessments. Also, a range of different appointment types were being conducted, and there was a high acceptance of these alternative methods among participants. The interviews with clinicians revealed five important aspects of video consultations: the perceived benefits, the perceived challenges, technology issues and necessary improvements, clinician preference and the future of video consulting. Specifically, the future of video consulting evidenced clinicians’ desire for a blended approach to working, selecting the appropriate modality depending on the situation and patient-specific needs.Conclusions Integrating the traditional methods of service delivery (face-to-face), and novel, innovative ways, such as video consultations, can motivate positive transformations for the efficiency and efficacy of health and social care.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/5/e068176.full |
| spellingShingle | Jessica Williams Gemma Johns Sara Khalil Mike Ogonovsky Alka Ahuja Kerrie Phipps Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic BMJ Open |
| title | Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among Allied Health Professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | online survey and interview evaluation to explore the use of video consulting among allied health professionals during the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/5/e068176.full |
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