E-physicians in Hungary: Experiences and opinions related to digital health among Hungarian physicians

Abstract

The digitalization of healthcare is one of the most topical issues in terms of the present and future of healthcare. The coronavirus pandemic has shed light on the potential inherent in these technologies, and at the same time brought to the surface countless tasks and problems that need to be solved. In our national survey, our aim is to find out how medical doctors are adapting to digital healthcare solutions. Between July 2021 and May 2022, we conducted an online questionnaire survey among doctors working in Hungary. 1774 people answered our questions, including 1576 general practitioners and 198 dentists. In this paper, the 1576 general practitioners' responses are presented. 78.8% of the respondent doctors recommend websites to their patients on a more or less regular basis, 52.8% have recommended apps and 46.0% have recommended social media resources. The respondent doctors perceive a high demand from patients for communication by e-mail (83.7% indicated). 86.4% of doctors are aware of telemedicine solutions and 47.5% of respondents would like to use them intensively in the next 3 years. A significant proportion of respondents would like to use apps (56.2%), sensors, portable diagnostic devices (49.0%) and artificial intelligence (28.3%) in the next 3 years. Websites, apps and social media resources are significantly more frequently recommended by general practitioners and they are the ones who are most in favour of the use of the internet for patient health and telemedicine. Our respondents manifest fundamentally positive feelings towards the digitalization of healthcare and are characterized by a cautious openness regarding the implementation and adaptation of technologies. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(4): 132-139.