Abstract
The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to drastic changes in the management of patients with rheumatic diseases. Due to the imminent risk of infection, monitoring intervals of rheumatic patients have prolonged. The aim of this study is to present insights from patients, rheumatologists, and digital product developers on the ongoing digital health transition in rheumatology. A qualitative and participatory semi-structured fishbowl approach was conducted to gain detailed insights from a total of 476 participants. The main findings show that digital health and remote care are generally welcomed by the participants. Five key themes emerged from the qualitative content analysis: (1) digital rheumatology use cases, (2) user descriptions, (3) adaptation to different environments of rheumatology care, and (4) potentials of and (5) barriers to digital rheumatology implementation. Codes were scaled by positive and negative ratings as well as on micro, meso, and macro levels. A main recommendation resulting from the insights is that both patients and rheumatologists need more information and education to successfully implement digital health tools into clinical routine.
Highlights
COVID-19 has led to drastic changes in the management of patients with rheumatic diseases
The qualitative approach provides a unique insight on the status quo of digital rheumatology from the perspectives of patient representatives, rheumatologists, and digital product developers
Digital health should be integrated into rheumatology care routines but must not entirely eradicate personal patient–doctor interaction [2]
Summary
COVID-19 has led to drastic changes in the management of patients with rheumatic diseases. Due to the imminent risk of infection, monitoring intervals of rheumatic patients have prolonged [1,2]. Some were cancelled or postponed, whereas others were replaced by video consultations [1,3], thereby catalyzing digital disruption in healthcare. Besides the COVID-19-induced uptake of digital health [4], the Digital Health Act, passed in December. Measures include the introduction of digital health applications into the statutory health insurance scheme, the implementation of digital patient records, and the promotion of video consultation hours [3,5]. Due to aggravating challenges, such as the declining number of rheumatologists [6], the aging population, and the need for early diagnosis [7] and continuous monitoring [8], rheumatology is considered to have a great potential to benefit from a digital health transition [2,9]
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