INTRODUCTION: The increasing digitalization of the healthcare system makes it possible to provide medical services using digital technologies without direct patient-provider contact. This study aimed to investigate 1) the use and acceptance of video consultation and 2) factors associated with the use of video consultation.
METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in February 2023. Overall, 20,000 adults insured at a statutory health insurance company in Germany (10,000 users and 10,000 non-users of video consultation) were invited by email to an online survey with 31 items. The items addressed use and acceptance of digital health services with a focus on video consultation, digital health literacy, and sociodemographic characteristics. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and factors associated with video consultation use were assessed using binary logistic regression.
RESULTS: Among the 1,657 participants, 686 were users and 971 were non-users of video consultation. The participants were aged between 18 and 80 years (M �� SD: 44 �� 13 years), 55% were female, 59% reported a medium subjective socioeconomic status and 69% a good to very good health status. Video consultation was predominantly used following physician recommendations (71%) as part of general medical care (50%). The main reasons for using video consultation were time saving (93%) and flexibility in terms of location (87%). Most video consultation users felt well cared-for during video consulting (93%), would use it again (95%), and would recommend it to others (93%). Factors associated with video consultation use were age from 30 to 49 years, high subjective socioeconomic status, high digital health litercay, and very poor to moderate health status.
CONCLUSION: The acceptance of video consultations in this study was high. Advantages and barriers to offering video consultations from a physician perspective should be investigated to incorporate video consultations in everyday medical practice.
