LATITUD project: Primary care evolves in the form of non-face-to-face care

The health model has undergone a significant change in the last few months of the pandemic. In this scenario, primary care has adopted a new approach of non-face-to-face care. Last July, recommendations were published on non-face-to-face care in hospital outpatient clinics, community health and mental health and addiction centres.  Now, these recommendations have been updated for primary care.

Primary care evolves in the form of non-face-to-face care

The increase in teleconsultations has been significant in recent months. As a result of the pandemic, the restricted access and saturation of health centres has forced a re-design of the mechanisms for accessing health services.  The article “Turning the Crisis Into an Opportunity: Digital Health Strategies Deployed During the COVID-19 Outbreak” , describes these advances in healthcare in Catalonia.

With these new recommendations, we want to facilitate the use of Non-Face-to-Face Care channels by primary care professionals. Therefore, we have defined aspects to consider in the use of this channel. For example, the recommendations define scenarios of use in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients. Also, advice is given on good practices, privacy aspects and on organization in the centres.

The work draws on the recommendations of professionals from different SISCAT centres, within a project co-led by the TIC Salut Social Foundation (LATITUD project), the CatSalut Department and the eHealth Office. The recommendations have been grouped into two pamphlets:

• Recommendations aimed at professionals: indicating at which point in the care process these channels should be used, examples of types of visits, criteria to be taken into account, description of the channels available, legal aspects and code of conduct and best practices.
• Recommendations aimed at the management teams of the centres: with organizational recommendations for the use of the available channels, as well as legal aspects, a checklist and best practice guidelines.

We are facing a paradigm shift in healthcare. Digital health is no longer simply the use of ICT in care processes, and primary care is evolving thanks to non-face-to-face care. Now, technology is already part of new healthcare processes, and therefore its use needs to be regulated. These recommendations are intended to facilitate implementation, sustained over time, with an emphasis on the involvement of citizens and professionals as drivers of change.