Needs, expectations, facilitators, and barriers among insurance physicians related to the use of eHealth in their work: results of a survey

Abstract

Purpose To determine needs, expectations, facilitators, and barriers of insurance physicians (IPs) for using eHealth in their work. Also, we investigated differences between age groups. Materials and methods All insurance physicians employed at the Dutch Social Security Institute (SSI) received an online anonymous survey in July 2020. Results Three hundred and fifteen IPs (31%) responded. According to these IPs, the most important need for using eHealth was to collect medical information more effectively and efficiently (71%). Main facilitators were that eHealth could make IPs’ work more effectively and efficiently (61%) and more future-proof (60%). Main barriers were losing human interaction (54%) and security issues (51%). Younger IPs saw more options for using eHealth, compared to older IPs. Conclusions The majority of IPs (in particular younger IPs) had a positive view towards using eHealth in their daily work. Nevertheless, differences in needs, expectations, facilitators and barriers between the age groups should be taken into account for the successful development and implementation of interventions using eHealth in insurance medicine.