Abstract
Background: Advancing technologies facilitate the transfer of medical services from the office practice to the patient home in a virtual format, offering comfort in e-communication.
Aim: To highlight the patient’s preference fulfilled in the digital era when necessary.
Method: A qualitative study was performed by the author in the community in 2022, relating to the healthcare model improvement by using IT devices.
Findings: In April 2022, the patient, 73, experienced a worsening heart function.
Patient health history: Hypertension from 2006; heart failure, NYHA class II, 2022.
Patient’s family health history: Parents: hypertension.
Actions were taken: The patient called the family doctor. The physician used mainly his voice in analysis and decisions. She recommended the treatment in the hospital, but the patient disagreed. The family doctor used drugs, behaviour change information, and communication skills to manage the situation. The follow-up call visits were scheduled twice a day in the first week, daily the following week, and then twice a week. In May 2022, the physician visited the patient at home; the face light of the patient expressed delight in his health improvement and the luxury of meeting his doctor who lives in another region after fourteen years.
Results: Clinical outcomes were improved in a few weeks. No relapse was reported.
Conclusion: IT devices are convenient options for treatment.
Discussions/Implications: Patient’s experience influences his decision in selecting the healthcare provider; this physician offered expertise to his family for three generations, from 1987-2008. Patient preference may be a tool to validate professionalism in healthcare.