General practitioners attitude towards the use of eHealth and online testing in primary care

Abstract Aim As people live longer and multimorbidity is common, the workload for general practitioners (GPs) is increasing. eHealth services, like online diagnostic testing, might help to increase efficiency in work processes and decrease the workload. This qualitative study aimed to examine GPs attitude towards and adoption of eHealth in general and online diagnostic testing in specific. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2019 with ten Dutch GPs about eHealth adoption and, specifically, online diagnostic testing. Thematic analysis using Atlas.Ti was done. Results All GPs used eHealth services in their practice, and the majority stated that eHealth made their work more efficient and run more smoothly. eHealth use by their patients was low though and two main barriers were identified by GPs. First, people with a low SES are not frequently using the services and second, the online security measures are often user-unfriendly affecting the number of logins. Seven GPs had positive experiences with online self-testing while three accepted the shift but preferred to deliver the care themselves. Online self-testing for chronic care patients was identified as an interesting future direction by GPs, offering merit and opportunities for both patients and GPs. Conclusions GPs had positive experiences with eHealth and acknowledged that it can result in an efficient workflow. Usage by patients is, however, relatively low and it will be important for future studies to identify ways to increase usage by addressing existing barriers to use. Exploring the potential of online diagnostic testing for chronic care patients might help to make care delivery future proof.