The Consult Station® innovation for primary care: a proof-of-concept study for the generalisation of teleconsultation devices (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Telemedicine technology is a growing field, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consult Station® is the first telemedicine device enabling a complete remote medical consultation including clinical parameter collection in a single space-time. OBJECTIVE Here, we report the multisite urban and suburban implantation of Consult Station® for primary care and its contribution to healthcare pathways in medical low-density areas. METHODS In a proof-of-concept multisite prospective cohort study, 2034 consecutive patients having a teleconsultation were included. Consultation characteristics were analysed from the patient and the practitioner perspectives. RESULTS In this study, the main users of Consult Station® were young patients consulting for seasonal infections of low severity. Interestingly, hypertension, diabetes and preventive medical consultations were almost absent, while they represent almost 50% of consultations with a GP. We showed that in the whole territory where the Consult Station® was implanted, the number of consultations increased when GP density decreased. The study of practitioner characteristics showed their motivation to work with this device, while continuing to live in metropolitan areas with a high level of technical acceptability. CONCLUSIONS Multisite implantation of Consult Station® booths is relevant for primary cares but it also could meet the challenge of medical deserts. In addition, further studies should be addressed to evaluate its possible contribution to limit work absenteeism.