title: [Internet, SMS or voice portals tools. New technologies for an old problem].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the frequency of use, effectiveness and usability of automated systems for obtaining appointments in primary care from a user point of view.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted using a telephone survey of a random sample of 6193 patients (or parents or guardians of paediatric patients) treated in primary care in the Valencian Autonomous Community.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 397 (13.4%) adult patients and 1000 (31%) of parents or guardians of the paediatric patients used the Internet. The Voice Portal (225, 3.6%) and SMS (57, 0.9%) was the least used. The Internet was mostly used by men (χ(2) 15.1, P<.004) and among adult patients aged between 51 and 70 years (χ(2) 40.5, P<.001). The traditional channels (telephone call or asking for an appointment personally) were used by chronic patients (χ(2) 28.7, P<.001) and those with who used the health sytem less (χ(2) 52, P<.001). The use of ICT is not responsible for delays in the date of appointment. Usability was very high (above 90%), except in the case of the system based on SMS (80.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Internet is the preferred channel among ICT to obtain an appointment. Its use is expected to increase. The effectiveness of ICT to get an appointment is somewhat higher than traditional channels. The usability of ICT to get an appointment is similar or superior to the traditional channels. The exception is the messages from a mobile.
authors.affiliation: Departamento Psicología de la Salud, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, España. jose.mira@umh.es
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mira
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nebot
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pérez-Jover
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D040421:Cell Phone; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009816:Office Automation; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000458:organization & administration; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D013030:Spain; D013689:Telephone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060145:Text Messaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*