Comparing the quality of video and phone consultations in primary care telemedicine: a cross-sectional study of over 180,000 appointments.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Telemedicine has gained prominence in primary care, but evidence comparing its modalities is scarce.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 184,308 video and phone consultations from a telemedicine platform in Portugal, comparing quality indicators based on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) domains.

Results

Video consultations were associated with lower recurrence rates, higher patient-reported helpfulness (95.4% vs. 92.3%), and greater satisfaction. Time to appointment was shorter for phone consultations, but video had a longer duration.

Conclusions

In this cross-sectional analysis, video consultations were associated with higher patient-reported helpfulness and lower short-term recurrence than telephone consultations, while telephone offered

SUBMITTER: Beirao D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC13651062 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature