Orange Healthcare presents the findings from an Ipsos survey: cross perspectives for doctors and the general public on health issues

In France, the general public and doctors do not share the same points of view when it comes to health issues. In September, Ipsos carried out a survey for Orange in order to determine, through this cross analysis of patients and doctors, how healthcare practices are changing by gradually integrating information and communications technologies (ICT).

As an e-healthcare player through its dedicated business line Orange Healthcare, Orange is particularly attentive to these needs and harnessing all of its technological know-how in order to meet them. “At Orange, we believe that new technologies can contribute to the well-being and better quality of life for patients and dependent people. Up until 2007, information and communications technologies were only rarely incorporated into healthcare practices. Since then, Orange Healthcare has developed several services, including: “mobile teleassistance” for people needing reassurance or comfort services, “Connected Emergency Response” for the emergency services, as well as various solutions facilitating home care. We firmly believe that Orange will play a decisive role in the development of the healthcare market, thanks to its ability to offer innovative technological solutions and the confidence and trust that the brand generates with the general public and professionals” confirms Thierry Zylberberg, head of Orange Healthcare

Key figures from the 2008 Ipsos e-healthcare survey

How information and communications technologies are perceived and used in terms of healthcare has therefore been reviewed by comparing the views of patients and doctors:

* 44% of doctors and 56% of the general public are concerned about the conditions for the ageing of the population
* 76% of doctors and 85% of the general public think that new technologies are going to become essential for home care
* 33% of the general public use the internet to determine the location of healthcare professionals
* 46% of the general public willing to set aside part of their personal budget for healthcare believe that it is useful to do so in order to facilitate home care
* 61% of doctors said that they use the internet to “streamline their administrative tasks” in 2008, compared with 56% in 2007
* 36% of doctors use the internet to “obtain information relative to their patients” in 2008, compared with 29% in 2007


Main lessons learned

The updating of this large-scale survey launched in 2007 throughout France this year has provided four main lessons:

* in general, the perception gap between the two populations, the general public on the one hand and doctors on the other, remains particularly marked in France
* French people, and doctors in particular, are concerned about the level of increases in healthcare costs
* the contribution of information and communications technologies to healthcare is seen in a very positive light, by both the general public and doctors
* still limited to looking up practical or medical information, internet use among the general public and doctors is set to grow over the next few years to cover new features, such as consulting health records online or simplifying the phases for booking appointments and following up with patients.


The survey

Carried out from September 8 to 18, 2008 on a representative national sample of 1,400 people, this survey has made it possible to better identify the changes and developments in e-healthcare practices for French people. It follows on from a previous survey conducted last year by Ipsos in five European countries. The methodology applied by Ipsos is based on a telephone questionnaire with two targets: the “general public” target (a sample of 1,000 people aged 15 and over) and the “doctors” target (400 representative doctors: 200 general practitioners and 200 specialized practitioners).