Objectives
To evaluate physicians’ perceptions of changes in patient access to healthcare during COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), and India.
Methods
A total of 751 physicians across US, UK and India were surveyed between September and October 2021. The survey focused on four areas related to patient access during the pandemic: (1) changes in patient access to health care, (2) changes in patients’ adherence to treatment plans, (3) changes in patients seeking mental health services and (4) changes in physicians’ use of technology or telemedicine.
Results
Of the 751 physicians who participated in the survey, 33.4% were from US (n=251) and 33.2% each were from UK and India (n=250). In all three countries, more than 40% of physicians reported that the patient access problems ranged from “somewhat common” to “very common” before and during COVID-19 restrictions. The major patient access challenge in the US (53%) and India (73%) was avoidance of testing or treatment due to lack of health insurance coverage (government or private) and out-of-pocket expenditures. In the UK, the avoidance of preventative screening tests (37.6%) was illustrated as “somewhat common” problem. Respondents quoted lack of health awareness and knowledge of non-communicable diseases [(average, 62.6%) US, 50.6%; UK, 57.2%; India, 80%], concerns about adverse effects and desire to avoid side effects [(average, 63.9%) US, 57.8%; UK, 64.4%; India, 69.6%] as the major reasons for patients’ nonadherence to prescribed treatment plans. More than 85% of the respondents reported that mental health concerns increased (US, 86%; India and UK, 92% each) during COVID-19. Further, all respondents witnessed a substantial increase in the utilization of telehealth during COVID-19.
Conclusions
Patients from countries of different sizes and healthcare systems may face distinct barriers. Surveying physicians may help to identify patients’ specific needs about better health care access.