PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Toselli, Marco
AU  - Palazzi, Ignazio
AU  - Lambertini, Martina
AU  - Maurizzi, Andrea
AU  - Cereda, Alberto
AU  - Khokhar, Arif
AU  - Landi, Stefano
AU  - Toscano, Fabrizio
AU  - Marasco, Giovanni
TI  - Teachings After COVID-19 Outbreak From a Survey of Family Physicians
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2021.S1.200267
DP  - 2021 Feb 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - S222--S224
VI  - 34
IP  - Supplement
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/Supplement/S222.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/Supplement/S222.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2021 Feb 01; 34
AB  - Background: Since December 2019, the dramatic escalation in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases worldwide has had a significant impact on health care systems. Family physicians (FPs) have played a critical role in the coordination of care.Materials and Methods: In April 2020, we performed an online prospective survey to assess the impact of the pandemic on FPs’ practices.Results: Three hundred FPs were included. Mean age was 53.6 ± 13.5 years. Before the pandemic, 60.2% reported >75 outpatient visits/week, which reduced down to an average of <20/week for 79.8% of FPs; 24.2% of FPs discontinued home visits, while for 94.7% of FPs there was a >50% increase in the number of telephone consultations. Concern related to the risk of contagion was elevated (≥3/5 in 74.6%) and even higher to the risk of infecting relatives and patients (≥3/5 in 93.3%). The majority of FPs (87%) supported the role of telemedicine in the near future. Satisfaction regarding the network with hospitals/COVID-19-dedicated wards received a score ≤2/5 in 46.9% of cases.Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the working practices of FPs. A collaboration is needed with well-established networks between FPs and referral centers to provide new insights and opportunities to inform future working practices.