The prevalence of the use of publicly available digital communication technologies by doctors in professional communication with patients

In addition to officially authorized information resources, doctors of medical organizations widely use publicly available means of digital communication in professional communication with patients, which poses a threat to the disclosure of personal data and information about the patient’s health status.

Aim. To study the frequency of use of publicly available digital means of communication by doctors in professional communication with patients.

Materials and methods. A survey based on author’s questionnaires of 240 doctors, among whom 36.6 ± 3.1% worked in a polyclinic, 18.3 ± 2.4% – in a rural hospital, 45.1 ± 3.2% – in a multidisciplinary urban hospital. Among the respondents were representatives of various age groups and medical specialties.

Results. According to the survey results, only 18.2 ± 2.5% of respondents do not use publicly available digital technologies when communicating with patients. Doctors mainly use messengers (Whatsapp, Viber and others) (44.6 ± 3.2% of respondents), e-mail (24.5 ± 2.8%), less often social networks (12.6 ± 2.1%). As doctors move into older age groups, they use digital technologies less often to communicate with patients (p = 0.045), communication with patients using digital means of communication is more common among male doctors than among female doctors (p = 0.04). The number of doctors using digital technologies in communicating with patients in the city hospital turned out to be significantly higher compared to the central district hospital (p < 0.0001) and polyclinic (p < 0.0001). Doctors of therapeutic specialties are less likely to use digital technologies to communicate with a patient than specialists in surgical specialties (p = 0.04).

Conclusion. The results of the study indicate a high prevalence of the use of publicly available digital communication tools by doctors when communicating with patients: 81.8 ± 2.5% of respondents reported such a practice. At the same time, such unsecured communication channels as messengers and e-mail are the most in demand.