Remote Consultations in General Practice—A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
Introduction: Remote consultations in general practice can be very useful form of telemedicine, which is basically a way to exchange medical information to improve the clinical health of patients when the patient and their general practitioner (GP) are not on the same place at the same time. This concept was developed in the 1980s to provide health care to patients who lived in remote areas. Methods: We were interested in researching what kind of remote consultations are available in general practice and what is the usage of these methods. We used four keywords – remote consultation and general practice or family medicine or primary care – and we searched in four different scientific databases: Medline–PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and IEEX Xplore. Results: We used a PRISMA diagram to identify studies and search the four main databases, we investigated 48 full text articles and when we applied our inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 studies were included in this systematic review. Conclusions: This systematic review covers the topics of remote consultation versus a traditional or classic physical consultation. Studies have shown its importance prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its value while in the mist of the pandemic then caring for infected patients. We have found that remote consultation is necessary, but it must be an improvement on the previous system. Teleconsultations can reduce the number of visits, especially during lockdown situations, with both patients and GPs satisfied with the method, but we should not forget that a physical consultation cannot be fully replaced by a remote consultation due to the limitations of the latter.
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In recent years, remote consultations have been utilized to provide a safer alternative option for patients and clinicians while also preventing the spread of infections in the clinical space.
“In recent years, remote consultations have been utilized to provide a safer alternative option for patients and clinicians while also preventing the spread of infections in the clinical space [236].”
From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [236]
The Introduction says remote consultations enabled patient care from a safe distance during COVID-19, and the Discussion describes them as an alternative to physical consultations that can reduce visits. Our copy does not state that they prevented the spread of infections in clinical spaces; that part of the claim goes beyond what the review reports. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Vodička, S., & Zelko, E.
- Affiliations
- Murska Sobota Community Health Centre , Grajska ulica 24, 9000 Murska Sobota , Slovenia
- Johannes Kepler University of Linz (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Vodička, Staša
- Venue
- Slovenian Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2022-09-28
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 224-230
- ISSN
- 0351-0026 (ISSN-L)
- 1854-2476
- PMC
- PMC9597895
- OpenAlex
- W4301397325
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Slovenian Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- 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
- teleconsultation, telemedicine, general practice, primary care, COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, patient satisfaction, GP satisfaction, remote area healthcare
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