Telephone consultations for general practice: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The use of information technology, including internet- and telephone-based resources, is becoming an alternative and supporting method of providing many forms of services in a healthcare and health management setting. Telephone consultations provide a promising alternative and supporting service for face-to-face general practice care. The aim of this review is to utilize a systematic review to collate evidence on the use of telephone consultation as an alternative to face-to-face general practice visits. METHODS: A systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform was performed using the search terms for the intervention (telephone consultation) and the comparator (general practice). Systematic reviews and randomized control trials that examined telephone consultation compared to normal face-to-face consultation in general practice were included in this review. Papers were reviewed, assessed for quality (Cochrane Collaboration's 'Risk of bias' tool) and data extracted and analysed. RESULTS: Two systematic reviews and one RCT were identified and included in the analysis. The RCT (N = 388) was of patients requesting same-day appointments from two general practices and patients were randomized to a same-day face-to-face appointment or a telephone call back consultation. There was a reduction in the time spent on consultations in the telephone group (1.5 min (0.6 to 2.4)) and patients in the telephone arm had 0.2 (0 to 0.3) more follow-up consultations than the face-to-face group. One systematic review focused on telephone consultation and triage on healthcare use, and included one RCT and one other observational study that examined telephone consultations. The other systematic review focused on patient access and included one RCT and four observational studies that examined telephone consultations. Both systematic reviews provided narrative interpretations of the evidence and concluded that telephone consultations provided an appropriate alternative to telephone consultations and reduced practice work load. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of high level evidence for telephone consultations in a GP setting; however, current evidence suggests that telephone consultations as an alternative to face-to-face general practice consultations offers an appropriate option in certain settings. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42015025225.
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Previous research on telephone consultations is sparse and supports no firm conclusions.
“Previous research on telephone consultations is surprisingly sparse and supports no firm conclusions”
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Several studies have suggested that double-handling may reduce efficiency.
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- Authors
- Downes, M. J., Mervin, M. C., Byrnes, J. M., & Scuffham, P. A.
- Affiliations
- Griffith University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Downes, Martin J
- Venue
- Systematic Reviews
- Published
- 2017-07-03
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 128-128
- ISSN
- 2046-4053 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5496327
- OpenAlex
- W2724969778
- Cited by
- 183
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 1.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Telstra Corperation (AU) (NA)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Healthcare Systems and Technology
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Keywords
- telephone consultation, general practice, face-to-face consultation, same-day appointments, consultation time, follow-up visits, triage, patient access, health information technology
- MeSH terms
- Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Referral and Consultation, Telephone, Telemedicine, General Practice
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