Study shows: Patients want more telemedicine

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Patients in Germany want more digital solutions for health care such as ehealth consultations, wearables or health portals. Nevertheless, they do not want to do without personal dialogue with the doctor.

In a representative survey, the auditing firm PwC asked 1,000 Germans how they assess the state of digitalization in our healthcare system, how they relate to telemedicine and which online services they use themselves. The Future Health 2018 study shows that insured people are open to new technologies and hope for improvements, especially in the areas of diagnosis and communication.

ehealth consultations and wearables on the rise

43 percent of those questioned are in favor of relaxing the distance treatment ban. 74 percent would like to see digital health services expanded. And 43 percent can imagine using wearables in the future to monitoring their health. The study participants definitely see the potential (relief of the practices and time saving) of robots or computers in conversation with their doctor, e.g. at the ehealth clinic. At the same time, however, they fear that this will lead to an increase in technical errors or incorrect diagnoses. Respondents are also concerned about data security.

Patients often find out about illnesses online

Online media information is playing an increasingly important role for patients. In particular, the 30- to 39-year-olds prefer to search for health information on the Internet for minor illnesses (40 percent). Online research accounts for 26 percent of all age groups. Patients in Germany most frequently seek advice from health portals and the websites of health magazines. Advice in online forums is also becoming increasingly important. Internet pages of health insurance companies or organizations from the health sector are less important to citizens.

Photo: pexels.com

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