JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, video consultation was introduced in general practice in many countries around the world as a solution to provide healthcare to patients. It was assumed that video consultation would find widespread adoption in post-Covid 19 general practice. Howev-er, adoption rates remain low across countries, suggesting that barriers to its use exist amongst general practitioners and other practice staff. In this viewpoint we take a comparative approach, looking at the implementation conditions of video consultation in five Northern European countries’ general practice settings that might have created barriers to its use within general practice. We convened a cross-disciplinary seminar in May 2022 with researchers and clinicians from five Northern European countries with expertise in virtual- and digital care in general practice and this viewpoint has partly emerged out of that seminar. In the present viewpoint, we discuss similarities and differences in implementation conditions across general practice settings in our countries and reflect on barriers to its use amongst general practitioners and practice staff, drawing on what is currently happening in practice and on current research. We share generalizable “lessons learned” and point to future action points needed if video consultation is ever to become a part of routine general practice.