Description

Prompt

Critically appraisal of clinical and health economic evidence of relying on online physician consultations to inform decision making.

Solution

Critical Appraisal of Clinical and Economic Evidence on Online Physician Consultations for Healthcare Decision-Making

Table of Contents

Introduction. 3

Literature Search. 5

Main Challenges to Potential for Economic Evaluation. 5

Clinical and Health Economic Evidence of Online Physician Consultations. 7

Clinical Effectiveness. 7

Cost-Effectiveness. 8

Patient Satisfaction and Patient Preferences. 10

Ethical Considerations. 11

Justice and Resource Allocation. 13

Conclusion. 13

References. 16

Introduction

Rising healthcare demand due to an aging population and declining traditional safety nets has intensified concerns over the UK’s constrained healthcare spending. The National Health Service (NHS) faces substantial fiscal pressure, highlighting the need for interventions that improve system efficiency (Papanicolas et al., 2019). Missed physician appointments further strain the system by wasting both time and resources. In 2019 alone, patients in England missed 7.2 million physician appointments, costing the NHS £216 million (Parsons et al., 2023). This high rate of missed appointments is particularly troubling, as it results in unused but highly valuable slots at a time when access to general practitioners and primary care is more critical than ever.

Economics plays a vital role in guiding interventions that address how society allocates scarce healthcare skills. The healthcare system currently faces capacity challenges due to rising demand and a significant shortage of specialized care providers—a gap expected to widen in the coming decade (Hermans et al., 2023). The more efficiently the NHS utilizes its physicians, the more capacity it gains to manage additional medical cases.

Like any other economic sector, the NHS must continually seek the most efficient ways to achieve its goals (Reynolds, 2018; Walters et al., 2022). This focus on efficiency is especially critical now, as the sustainability of healthcare systems has become a pressing concern amid rising costs and an increasing share of healthcare spending relative to gross domestic product (GDP). Since 1950, publicly funded healthcare spending has doubled as a proportion of national income, even though the population has grown by only one-third (Watt et al., 2019). These growing demands underscore the urgent need to reduce healthcare costs and ensure long-term system sustainability.

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