Patients' attitudes towards online booking an appointment with a general practitioner in Bulgaria

Nevena Ivanova

Keywords: on-line booking, general practitioner, primary care

Aim:

to study patients' attitudes towards online booking of an appointment with a general practitioner

Method:

a pilot study in 50 patients from the Plovdiv region who filled out a developed questionnaire

Results:

Of the participants, 28 (56%) were men, 22 (44%) women, divided into 4 age groups: 18-40 years 5 (10%), 40-60 12 (24%), 60-80 30 (60%), over 80 3 (6%). 1 patient had primary education (2%), 8 elementary (16%), 21 high school (42%), 20 (40%) higher. 76% live in a city, 24% in a village. Of the respondents, 74% have an electronic device, of which 100% have a smartphone, 5% a tablet, 40% a computer, 12% have more than one kind, 26% have no device. 78% know they could make an online appointment with a general practitioner (GP). 50% are aware of this possibility from GPs, 40% from other patients, in 10% from electronic media. 56% (28) would not take advantage of this opportunity, and in 46% of cases they are people over 70 years old, in 53% with primary, elementary and high school education. In 46% of those who answered negatively, the reason was the lack of a device, in 100% lack of access to the Internet, knowledge on how to download the application and inability to navigate the program. Out of 28, 71% consider they do not need such a service. 44% of all respondents indicate that on-line booking saves waiting time at the GP practice, 36% believe that it does not take away from the time of the GP

Conclusions:

On-line booking is a contemporary opportunity for organizing work in primary care. Still in Bulgaria, most patients do not consider it. The main reasons being related to older patients who do not have access to electronic resources or find it difficult to use them and have low education.

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