Patients’ Experiences With a Digital Primary Health Care Concept Using Written Dialogues: A Pilot Study

Background: The changing health care environment promotes the adoption of new information technologies to connect patients and health care providers. However, individuals greatly vary in their ability to use new digital systems, and in their feelings regarding integrity and validation. Caregivers in southern Sweden plan to implement a new digital primary health care (DPHC) service, and patients’ experiences must be studied to guide the best possible implementation of this service. Purpose: To examine the patients’ experiences with DPHC using written dialogues. Method: Patients were consecutively recruited from June 2018 to April 2019. This prospective pilot study used questionnaires with fixed response options, summarized as index values (IV, 0-1.0) in the following domains: communication, technical functionality, and general experience of DPHC. Results: Participants included 286 patients with a mean age of 40 ± 15 years. The response rate was 49% (n = 140), including 40 men (29%) and 100 women (71%). Communication using DPHC was experienced as fairly good (IV, 0.58), technical functionality was experienced as good (IV, 0.80), and the general experience of DPHC was positive with an IV of 0.76. The overall experience of the concept (IV, 0.71), corresponds to a median satisfaction value of 8.0 (interquartile range, 6-9). The patients felt well-prepared and experienced reasonable time aspects. Of the responding patients, 81% would recommend DPHC to others, and a notable reason for satisfaction was availability. However, patients expressed some uncertainty regarding the physician’s ability to assess correct care needs. Conclusion: The patients in our pilot study described their satisfaction and expressed good experiences with the concept of DPHC using written dialogues.