Remote consultation is not yet the remedy for the “medical deserts” in the countryside. Patients who “teleconsult” general practitioners are on average more urban and younger than the people seen in their offices, according to a study published Thursday by the statistics department of the health and social ministries (Drees).
Teleconsultations are also carried out more frequently with young patients, regardless of the territory of residence. In 2021, 45.2% were with people between the ages of 15 and 44, compared to 28.7% of office visits.
Patients who “teleconsult” close
Another lesson: teleconsultations do not seem to be primarily aimed at abolishing distances, since for 58.6% of them the doctor practices in the patient’s municipality of residence or less than 5 kilometers away.
As expected, the study generally confirms the sharp increase in teleconsultations under the effect of the Covid-19 crisis. Liberal GPs performed 13.5 million in 2020, then 9.4 million in 2021, when there were only 80,000 in 2019. The practice takes hold over time, but remains rare: it accounted for 3.7% of the liberal general medicine activity in 2021. Less than home visits.
Source: BFM TV
