COVID-19; family medicine; general practice; telemedicine
Abstract :
[en] [en] INTRODUCTION: The evolving landscape of general practice (GP)/family medicine (FM) in the post-COVID-19 era, focussing on integrating telemedicine and remote consultations requires a new definition for this specialty. Hence, a broader consensus-based definition of post-COVID-19 GP/FM is warranted.
METHODS: This study involved a modified electronic Delphi technique involving 27 specialists working in primary care recruited via convenient and snowball sampling. The Delphi survey was conducted online between August 2022 and April 2023, utilizing the Google Forms platform. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse consensus across Delphi rounds.
RESULTS: Twenty-six international experts participated in the survey. The retention rate through the second and third Delphi rounds was 96.2% (n = 25). The broader consensus definition emphasizes person-centred care, collaborative patient-physician partnerships, and a holistic approach to health, including managing acute and chronic conditions through in-person or remote access based on patient preferences, medical needs, and local health system organization.
CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance of continuity of care, prevention, and coordination with other healthcare professionals as core values of primary care. It also reflects the role of GP/FM in addressing new challenges post-pandemic, such as healthcare delivery beyond standard face-to-face care (e.g. remote consultations) and an increasingly important role in the prevention of infectious diseases. This underscores the need for ongoing research and patient involvement to continually refine and improve primary healthcare delivery in response to changing healthcare landscapes.
Disciplines :
General & internal medicine
Author, co-author :
Prazeres, Filipe ; Department of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Av. Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal ; Family Health Unit Beira Ria, Rua Padre Rubens, 3830-596 Gafanha da Nazaré, Portugal ; CINTESIS@RISE, MEDCIDS, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal
Jamoulle, Marc ; Université de Liège - ULiège > HEC Liège : UER > UER Opérations : Systèmes d'information de gestion ; Digital Health Laboratory, Rouen University, 1 rue de Germont, 76031 Rouen Cedex, France
Kareli, Ana; Georgia Family Medicine Association, Tbilisi State Medical University, 33 Vazha-Pshavela Ave, Tbilisi 0186, Georgia
Collins, Claire; Irish College of General Practitioners, 4-5 Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, D02 XR68, Ireland ; Department. of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent 10 9000, Belgium
Móczár, Csaba; Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, Stáhly str. 7-9. 5.floor, 1085 Budapest, Hungary
Wong, Martin C S; JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 202, School of Public Health Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong ; The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100037 China ; School of Public Health, The Peking University, Health Science Center, No. 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China ; School of Public Health, Fudan University, 130 Dongan Road, Xuhui, Shanghai, 200032, P. R. China
Bhattacharya, Sudip; Department of Community and Family Medicine, Academic Building, Zone-1, Floor-1, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Devipur Campus, Deoghar, Jharkhand, 814152 India
Vinker, Shlomo; Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel ; Medical Branch, Leumit Health services, Shprintzak 23, Tel Aviv 647381, Israel ; WONCA Europe, oljanski nasip 58, 1000 Ljubliana, Slovenia
Low, L Leng; SingHealth Duke-NUS Family Medicine Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Khoo Teck Puat Building, 8 College Road, 169857, Singapore ; SingHealth Community Hospitals, Singapore
Abdul-Razak, Suraya; Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, Selangor Branch, 47000 Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
Brooke, Joanne; College of Nursing and Midwifery, Birmingham City University, South Campus, Westbourne Road, Birmingham, B15 3TN, England
Verjee, Mohamud A; Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Qatar Foundation-Education City, P.O. Box 24144, Doha, State of Qatar
Prasad, Pramendra; Department of General Practice and Emergency Medicine, B.P.Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Buddha Chowk, Dharan, Sunsari, Koshi Province, Nepal
Søndergaard, Jens; Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark
Pond, Dimity; University of New England, Elm Avenue, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia ; Wicking Dementia Research and Teaching Centre, University of Tasmania, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart TAS 7000, Australia
Hughes, Lloyd; School of Medicine, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School DD1 9SY, United Kingdom ; School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9TF, United Kingdom
Cihan, Fatma Goksin ; Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Abdulhamid Han Street, Selcuklu, Konya, Turkey
Tsimtsiou, Zoi; Department of Hygiene, Social-Preventive Medicine and Medical Statistics, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Harrison, Christopher; Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Edward Ford Building, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
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Lee, Y Kong; Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Van Royen, Paul ; Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Doornstraat 331, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
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