The College Of GPs (RACGP) Takes A Look At Technology Use In The Sector. Some Interesting Alleged Findings.

This popped up a little while ago.

The RACGP’s technology survey results are in

The survey explored knowledge and experience of eHealth technologies, barriers and drivers, and education and training needs.

The RACGP’s Views and attitudes towards technological innovation in general practice: Survey report 2018 incorporates results from the 1762 GPs who participated in the survey.

The survey is designed to gain insights into GPs’ use of technology in Australia, assist the RACGP in understanding what systems are being used, where future investment is needed and the key technology challenges faced by general practice teams.

It also details a number of RACGP resources to support implementation and effective use of eHealth technologies in general practice.

‘GPs report that technology has led to improved practice efficiencies and more effective collaboration with other healthcare providers, resulting in improved continuity of care and better patient outcomes,’ Dr Rob Hosking, Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management (REC–PTM), said.

Significant findings from the 2018 survey show that:

·         87% of GP respondents are entirely digital, with no supplementary paper records maintained

·         71% of GPs are satisfied with the way they use technology in their practice (those with 5–10 years’ experience report the highest rate of satisfaction)

·         50% of GPs feel confident about experimenting with new technologies

·         50% of GPs send and receive clinical information via secure electronic communication.

Identified barriers for adopting eHealth technologies include a lack of:

·         knowledge of effective apps, both for GP usage and recommendations to patients

·         trustworthy sources to access effective apps

·         patient digital literacy

·         integration into clinical software and workflows.

In terms of professional development, 41% of respondents reported participation in eHealth professional development in 2018, with webinars the most used platform.

My Health Record was the most cited eHealth professional development topic for GPs, with 73% of GPs uploading patient data to the system. A third of GPs (30%) also reported accessing patients’ health information via My Health Record that would not have otherwise been available to them.

The next RACGP technology survey will open in late 2019.

Here is the link:

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/racgp/the-racgp%E2%80%99s-technology-survey-results-are-in

From the document the Summary Findings were:

Summary of findings

Eighty-seven per cent of GP respondents are now entirely digital, with no supplementary paper records maintained.

Seventy-one per cent of GPs were satisfied with the way they use technology in their practice, with the highest rate of satisfaction among GPs with 5–10 years’ experience.

Fifty per cent of GPs feel confident about experimenting with new technologies. There is an inverse correlation between age and confidence in experimenting with new technologies.

Fifty per cent of GPs send and receive clinical information via secure electroniccommunication.

GPs with 1–5 years’ experience are the biggest users of mobile devices in their practice at 49%, while GPs with less than one year’s experience are the smallest users at 30%.

Thirty-eight per cent of GPs not using mobile devices report that they do not see

how mobile technology can benefit their day-to-day practice.

In 2018, there was an increase in the number of GPs recommending apps to patients, which rose from 40% to 60% of GPs. Twenty-six per cent of GPs rarely or never recommend apps to patients. This is down from 47% in 2017. Mental health, nutrition, fitness, family planning and smoking cessation apps are the most commonly recommended.

The main barriers identified to recommending apps were a lack of knowledge around effective apps, lack of a trustworthy source to access effective apps, lack of patient digital literacy and lack of integration into clinical software and workflows.

Thirty-one per cent of GPs use telehealth services to provide support to patients

during a video consultation, conduct video consultations with other healthcare providers and/or undertake training. Were future funding available, 48% of GPs who do not use telehealth services currently said they would be likely to commence using them in the next three years.

GP use of social media remains consistent from 2017, with one in four GPs using a social media platform for work purposes.

Barriers to use of social media for work purposes include medico-legal and privacy concerns.

Forty-one per cent of GPs participated in eHealth professional development within the last 12 months. The most used platform for eHealth professional development was webinar, and the most cited eHealth professional development topic was My Health Record.*

Seventy-three per cent of GP respondents work in practices uploading patient information to My Health Record. However, 54% do not feel adequately prepared to manage the impacts of the expansion, via an opt-out model, of My Health Record in their practice.

*It is acknowledged that since this survey was advertised at a number of RACGP ‘My Health Record in general practice’ education events, this result may be skewed.

-----  End Summary.

The results are very interesting as far as they go, but the report notes that many survey recipients learnt about the survey while doing myHealth Record training and that only 1220 of the 1762 responses were able to be analysed.  (The College claims about 40,000 members so the sample size is pretty small which probably explains some of the odd numbers)

Re: the #myHealthRecord I don’t think much can be drawn at all – but you be the judge! For me this is one of the most unscientific and spun surveys I have seen in a fair while!

David.