TY - JOUR T1 - Augmented Consulting: the future of primary care? JF - BJGP Open JO - BJGP Open DO - 10.3399/BJGPO.2020.0177 VL - 5 IS - 2 SP - BJGPO.2020.0177 AU - Stuart Stewart AU - Yvette Pyne AU - Brian McMillan Y1 - 2021/04/01 UR - http://bjgpopen.org/content/5/2/BJGPO.2020.0177.abstract N2 - Changes in clinical practice shaped by COVID-19 have included rapid and widespread adoption of digital technologies1 that, while enabling primary care physicians to continue to deliver health care remotely, have also created further barriers to the human connection so vital in medicine. Even before the pandemic, the physician’s use of the computer and electronic health record (EHR) had come to dominate the consultation in primary care.2 Notwithstanding the obvious utility of providing physicians with instant access to extensive patient information, and evidence-based guidelines, this uninvited third party in the consultation has disrupted the relationship between patient and doctor leading to poorer patient care3 and physician burnout.4 With global organisations now encouraging digital healthcare strategies,5 more technology is not only being invited into healthcare, but lauded as central to its delivery. Given the prominence of the computer within the consultation, it is entirely possible that more technology may drive a wedge further between the patient and doctor. Despite primary care rapidly embracing technology such as digitally delivered prescriptions, ‘fit notes’, and video consultations, recent patient-centred research articulates the experience through the patient’s eyes, balancing this enthusiasm.6 We are at an inflection point in healthcare’s digital transformation and it is vital that we drive the discussion around when and where technology is helping or hindering us in serving our patients. As purveyors of change, primary care physicians must take a lead in defining how digital technologies are used within the consultation. We recognise that the pace of technological change has been painfully slow and often disappointing, and many primary care physicians may oscillate between anxiety and … ER -