The use of telemedicine in family medicine: a scoping review.

IF 2.7 3区 医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES BMC Health Services Research Pub Date : 2025-03-13 DOI:10.1186/s12913-025-12449-7
Sajjad Mahdavi, Mehra Fekri, Soma Mohammadi-Sarab, Mahdi Mehmandoost, Ehsan Zarei
{"title":"The use of telemedicine in family medicine: a scoping review.","authors":"Sajjad Mahdavi, Mehra Fekri, Soma Mohammadi-Sarab, Mahdi Mehmandoost, Ehsan Zarei","doi":"10.1186/s12913-025-12449-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Telemedicine is becoming increasingly important in primary health care globally. It is recognized as safe, convenient, and cost-effective. The aim of this study is to explore the use of telemedicine in family medicine services, focusing on identifying its areas of application, advantages, disadvantages, and the infrastructure required for effective implementation of this technology.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This scoping review was conducted in 2024 using the 5-step framework of Arksey and O'Malley. Comprehensive searches were carried out in the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases, using keywords such as telemedicine, telehealth, virtual care, teleconsultation, family physician, and family medicine. The search was limited to publications from 2015 to 2024. A total of 37 relevant articles were included in the analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Telemedicine is utilized in four primary areas of family medicine: prevention, treatment, monitoring and control, and consultation/administration. According to the frequency of mention in the studies reviewed, the key advantages of telemedicine include improved patient access, enhanced convenience for both patients and healthcare providers, increased patient safety, and greater flexibility in service delivery. However, several challenges were also noted, including the lack of physical examinations, communication and cognitive barriers, low digital literacy among patients and family physicians, and concerns about patient privacy. Essential infrastructure for effective telemedicine implementation comprises reliable information and communication technology, appropriate devices for patients and family physicians, robust technical support, well-defined guidelines and initiatives to enhance digital literacy.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Recognizing the advantages of telemedicine in family medicine, it is essential for national health systems to prioritize its integration and development. Telemedicine has the potential to transform the delivery of family medicine services by enhancing access for remote and underserved communities while substantially reducing costs for both patients and providers. However, achieving this potential necessitates the establishment of appropriate legal, technical, and cultural infrastructure.</p>","PeriodicalId":9012,"journal":{"name":"BMC Health Services Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"376"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11907889/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BMC Health Services Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-12449-7","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine is becoming increasingly important in primary health care globally. It is recognized as safe, convenient, and cost-effective. The aim of this study is to explore the use of telemedicine in family medicine services, focusing on identifying its areas of application, advantages, disadvantages, and the infrastructure required for effective implementation of this technology.

Methods: This scoping review was conducted in 2024 using the 5-step framework of Arksey and O'Malley. Comprehensive searches were carried out in the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases, using keywords such as telemedicine, telehealth, virtual care, teleconsultation, family physician, and family medicine. The search was limited to publications from 2015 to 2024. A total of 37 relevant articles were included in the analysis.

Results: Telemedicine is utilized in four primary areas of family medicine: prevention, treatment, monitoring and control, and consultation/administration. According to the frequency of mention in the studies reviewed, the key advantages of telemedicine include improved patient access, enhanced convenience for both patients and healthcare providers, increased patient safety, and greater flexibility in service delivery. However, several challenges were also noted, including the lack of physical examinations, communication and cognitive barriers, low digital literacy among patients and family physicians, and concerns about patient privacy. Essential infrastructure for effective telemedicine implementation comprises reliable information and communication technology, appropriate devices for patients and family physicians, robust technical support, well-defined guidelines and initiatives to enhance digital literacy.

Conclusion: Recognizing the advantages of telemedicine in family medicine, it is essential for national health systems to prioritize its integration and development. Telemedicine has the potential to transform the delivery of family medicine services by enhancing access for remote and underserved communities while substantially reducing costs for both patients and providers. However, achieving this potential necessitates the establishment of appropriate legal, technical, and cultural infrastructure.

查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
背景在全球范围内,远程医疗在初级医疗保健中的作用日益重要。远程医疗被公认为安全、方便且具有成本效益。本研究旨在探讨远程医疗在家庭医疗服务中的应用,重点是确定其应用领域、优势、劣势以及有效实施该技术所需的基础设施:本范围研究于 2024 年采用 Arksey 和 O'Malley 的 5 步框架进行。使用远程医疗、远程保健、虚拟护理、远程会诊、家庭医生和家庭医学等关键词在 Web of Science、PubMed 和 Scopus 数据库中进行了全面检索。搜索仅限于 2015 年至 2024 年间的出版物。共有 37 篇相关文章被纳入分析:远程医疗主要应用于家庭医学的四个领域:预防、治疗、监控和咨询/管理。根据回顾研究中提及的频率,远程医疗的主要优势包括改善患者就医、为患者和医疗服务提供者提供更多便利、提高患者安全性以及提供服务的灵活性。不过,研究也指出了一些挑战,包括缺乏体检、沟通和认知障碍、患者和家庭医生的数字素养较低,以及对患者隐私的担忧。有效实施远程医疗的必要基础设施包括可靠的信息和通信技术、适合患者和家庭医生的设备、强大的技术支持、明确的指导方针以及提高数字素养的举措:认识到远程医疗在家庭医疗中的优势,国家卫生系统必须优先整合和发展远程医疗。远程医疗有可能改变家庭医疗服务的提供方式,增加偏远和服务不足社区的就医机会,同时大幅降低患者和医疗服务提供者的成本。然而,要实现这一潜力,就必须建立适当的法律、技术和文化基础设施。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
BMC Health Services Research
BMC Health Services Research 医学-卫生保健
CiteScore
4.40
自引率
7.10%
发文量
1372
审稿时长
6 months
期刊介绍: BMC Health Services Research is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of health services research, including delivery of care, management of health services, assessment of healthcare needs, measurement of outcomes, allocation of healthcare resources, evaluation of different health markets and health services organizations, international comparative analysis of health systems, health economics and the impact of health policies and regulations.
期刊最新文献
"I feel like my job is to give patients hope" - perspectives of Community Health Workers and employers in Iowa: a mixed methods study. A scoping review of digital health technologies in multimorbidity management: mechanisms, outcomes, challenges, and strategies. Cost-effectiveness of novel diagnostic tools for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the United States. Economic returns on investing in early childhood development in Vietnam: a cost-benefit analysis. The National Paediatric Applied Research Translation Initiative (N-PARTI): using implementation science to improve primary care for Australian children with asthma, type 1 diabetes, and infections.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1