Teleconsultation, a tool for the future? - The Portuguese Family Doctors' perspective

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a mass use of teleconsultation. The aim of this study is to understand the family doctors' perspective over the utility of teleconsultation in their future clinical practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was realized through the application of an online survey, between September 18th and December 4th, 2020. The target population were family medicine physicians and residents who worked in a primary health unit belonging to the portuguese National Healthcare Service. A descriptive analysis of the characteristics of the participants and of their answers to the survey was performed. RESULTS: 377 responses were received. It was identified as the main advantage the greater accessibility (68,7%), as the main disadvantage the impossibility to perform physical examination (81,2%) and as the main obstacle the lack of appropriate resources to teleconsultation (70,0%). The majority of the participants acknowledge that teleconsultation represents a valuable asset to the future of medicine (83,6%). 80,6% of the doctors would like to implement a teleconsultation period in their schedule and 76,1% think that teleconsultation will become essential to future clinical practice. CONCLUSION: Published studies support our findings, regarding advantages, disadvantages and obstacles. It is acknowledged that currently neither portuguese population nor family medicine are ready for teleconsultation, although this is considered to be a useful tool to future clinical practice.