eHealth usage patterns of European general practitioners: a five-year (2002-2007) comparative study

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• The adoption of eHealth services by healthcare professionals is crucial for modernizing healthcare delivery.
• Understanding the patterns and influencing factors of eHealth adoption among general practitioners (GPs) is essential for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a five-year comparative segmentation analysis (2002-2007) of eHealth service utilization by European GPs.
• To determine the influence of external factors on the adoption of various eHealth services by GPs.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of two cross-national survey datasets from 2002 (n=3512) and 2007 (n=3948) covering EU-15 countries.
• Latent class cluster analysis to identify distinct segments of eHealth users and non-users.
• Contingency table analyses to assess the impact of sociodemographic and practice-related factors.

Main Results:

• The percentage of GPs using the Internet or dedicated health networks rose from 64.5% in 2002 to 77.1% in 2007.
• Four distinct segments were identified: 'Information Searchers/Average Users', 'Advanced Users/Adv. Users (ePrescribers)', 'Laggards', and 'Non-Internet Users'.
• Significant variations in eHealth usage were observed across countries, with moderate influences from age (cohort effect) and practice size. Physician sex and practice location showed minimal impact.

Conclusions:

• European primary care physicians demonstrated a positive trend in eHealth adoption, particularly in online information retrieval, electronic health records, and electronic patient data transfer.
• Comparative profiling of GP eHealth usage patterns aids in developing effective strategies to promote eHealth diffusion among medical professionals in the EU-15.
• The findings underscore the importance of considering country-specific contexts and practice characteristics in eHealth promotion efforts.