{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T06:36:32Z","timestamp":1777012592897,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776988800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Telemedicine (TM) in general practice has declined following the pandemic. One reason is deemed to be the lack of clear evidence regarding the quality of care provided by TM. Therefore, the aim of this review, was to systematically present the existing evidence concerning the use of TM applications in general practice.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This structured review includes randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies with a control group. The literature search targeted the time period from 2011 to 2025, screened by two researchers who focused in particular on medical efficacy, economic effects, and patient experiences.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The searches in the PubMed and Cochrane databases yielded 488 publications (30 June 2025). After filtering out duplicates and performing multi-step screening (title, abstract and full text), 22 studies were included in the final analysis. Over 50% of these studies found positive significant effects in the clinical outcomes. Over 80% of the included studies entailed asynchronous applications and 95% of the studies observed a time period of 12 months or less. The studies focused primarily on chronic somatic diseases, including diabetes mellitus type 2, hypertension and heart failure.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings demonstrate that there is evidence supporting the use of telemedicine in general practice. However, the majority of the studies focused on diseases that are not among the most common reasons for encounter and had a rather short follow-up observation period. The fact that the studies were not initiated by the specialty itself is the most likely explanation for these findings. There was no evidence that TM causes (significant) worsening of outcomes in the conditions addressed in the included studies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1771532","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T05:40:41Z","timestamp":1777009241000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Telemedicine applications in general medicine - a structured review of the evidence"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Philip","family":"Marahrens","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Family Medicine","place":["L\u00fcbeck, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexander","family":"Waschkau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Family Medicine","place":["L\u00fcbeck, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ida Wagner","family":"Josefsson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIMT - Centre for Innovative Medical Technology, Odense University Hospital","place":["Odense, Denmark"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kristian","family":"Kidholm","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIMT - Centre for Innovative Medical Technology, Odense University Hospital","place":["Odense, Denmark"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jost","family":"Steinh\u00e4user","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Family Medicine","place":["L\u00fcbeck, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"Resolutions and Decisions \u2013 WHA 58\/28 eHealth.\n          \n          2005"},{"key":"B2","unstructured":"Telemedizin.\n          \n          2025"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e55534","DOI":"10.7759\/cureus.55534","article-title":"The impact of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring on healthcare delivery: a comprehensive evaluation.","volume":"16","author":"Vudathaneni","year":"2024","journal-title":"Cureus."},{"key":"B4","unstructured":"Heuer\n              J\n            \n            \n              Osterwald\n              A\n            \n            \n              Akmatov\n              MK\n            \n            \n              Holstiege\n              J\n            \n            \n              Kohring\n              C\n            \n            \n              Dammertz\n              L\n            \n          \n          Telemedizin als alternativer Zugang zu vertrags\u00e4rztlicher ambulanter Versorgung \u2013 Trends im Zeitraum 2017 bis 2021. 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A systematic evaluation with the \u201cModel for Assessment of Telemedicine\u201d.","author":"Allner","year":"2019","journal-title":"Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"339","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1791-0479","article-title":"Quality indicators for video consultations in primary care - a scoping review.","volume":"85","author":"Traulsen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Gesundheitswesen."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-023-09664-5","article-title":"Experiences with the quality of telemedical care in an offshore setting \u2013 a qualitative study.","volume":"23","author":"Hellfritz","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Health Serv Res."},{"key":"B11","unstructured":"Database on Evidence Based Telemedicine - the Most Extensive Collection of Data within Digital Health.\n          \n          2019"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"280","DOI":"10.1177\/1357633X211015585","article-title":"The hospital telemedicine TELEMED database: providing information on evidence-based telemedicine services to hospital managers and healthcare professionals.","volume":"27","author":"Kidholm","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Telemed Telecare."},{"key":"B13","unstructured":"Modified Downs and Black Checklist for Assessment of Methodological Quality. 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Journal Contribution.\n          \n          2020"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14860","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph192214860","article-title":"Evaluation of synchronous and asynchronous telemedical applications in primary care in rural regions of Northern Germany\u2014results and lessons learned from a pilot study.","volume":"19","author":"Waschkau","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1017\/S0266462311000638","article-title":"A model for assessment of telemedicine applications: mast.","volume":"28","author":"Kidholm","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int J Technol Assess Health Care."},{"key":"B16","volume-title":"Versorgungsforschung in der Hausarztpraxis - Ergebnisse aus dem CONTENT-Projekt 2006\u20132009.","author":"Laux","year":"2010"},{"key":"B17","unstructured":"Fachdefinition Allgemeinmedizin.\n          \n          2025"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1016\/j.zefq.2019.02.009","article-title":"Reasons for non-acceptance and non-use of a home telemonitoring application by multimorbid patients aged 65 years and over.","author":"Lang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Z Evid Fortbild Qual Gesundhwes."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1771532\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]],"date-time":"2026-04-24T05:40:46Z","timestamp":1777009246000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1771532\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]]},"references-count":18,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fmed.2026.1771532"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fmed.2026.1771532","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-858X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-858X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,24]]},"article-number":"1771532"}}