Effects of digitalisation on preventive care and time pressure of primary care physicians

BACKGROUND: Excessive workload and waiting times in primary care, along with problems in information flow, can hamper the achievement of the public health benefits of preventive care. Digitalisation aims to promote prevention by expediting access to care and advancing self-care and seamless care, which might also streamline work. This study examined whether perceived changes in patient care due to digitalisation (teleconsultations, patient activity, and interprofessional collaboration) were associated with perceived a) improvement in preventive care and b) reduction in time pressure among primary care physicians. METHODS: We used national survey data on Finnish primary care physicians (N = 1538) from spring 2021. We conducted multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses, adjusted for gender, sector, and technology-related stress. We present odds ratios (OR), unstandardised b values, and their confidence intervals (CI) for statistical significance. RESULTS: Physicians who reported performing many teleconsultations (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.16-2.12) and perceived improvements in patient activity (OR = 5.02, 95% CI 3.73-6.75) or interprofessional collaboration (OR = 4.33, 95% CI 3.31-5.66) had greater odds of perceiving enhanced preventive care compared to their counterparts. Many teleconsultations (b=.26, 95% CI .14-.37) and perceived improvements in patient activity (b=.11, 95% CI .01-.21) or interprofessional collaboration (b=.12, 95% CI .02-.23) were also associated with higher time pressure (scale 1-5) among physicians. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians may perceive that digitalisation improves preventive care when teleconsultations are frequently used, patients are encouraged to digital self-care, and practices for interprofessional collaboration are developed. Despite the patient benefits, the new tasks seem to increase physicians’ time pressure. Allocation of physicians’ working time to digital encounters and training of new tasks could help improve working conditions in primary care. KEY MESSAGES: • Primary care physicians who frequently utilise teleconsultations and see progress in patient activity or interprofessional collaboration due to digitalisation may find improvements in preventive care. • Digital tasks that promote preventive care may increase physicians’ constant rush and pressure to perform their duties, which should be recognised in work planning to ensure high-quality patient care.