Keywords: Digital care; Hybrid care; Patient safety; Equity; Interoperability; Implementation; Delphi; Family medicine

Introduction:

Digital care in European family medicine is expanding faster than the systems that ensure its safety, quality, and equity. This may lead to a critical gap concerning implementation in practice. For instance, digital and hybrid consultations have moved from emergency solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic to a permanent component of family medicine across Europe. Yet, GPs are still struggling to define when digital care is appropriate, how to ensure patient safety and continuity, and how to prevent digital innovation from widening health inequalities. Not to mention collecting evidence on these questions. To support coordinated European leadership, EQuiP initiated an international Delphi process building on earlier European consensus work. Thirty-seven statements were consolidated into six thematic domains: patient empowerment and health literacy; hybrid care and continuity; safety and unintended consequences; interoperability and shared records; ethical and responsible AI; and professional stewardship, reimbursement, and implementation.
The urgent challenge is no longer defining principles, but turning consensus into practical guidance that clinicians, organisations, and health systems can implement safely and consistently.
This workshop addresses that challenge by translating consensus into concise, implementable recommendations and preparing the foundation for an EQuiP position paper applicable across diverse European health systems.

Aim(s):

This workshop aims to:
• Discuss current results of the EQuiP Delphi study on digital and hybrid family medicine.
• Translate priority statements into implementable recommendations.
• Identify practical implementation steps and measurable indicators for safety, access, continuity, and equity.
• Co-create a pathway for the adoption, dissemination, and implementation of an EQuiP position paper.

Programme:

1. Introduction and overview Delphi (12 min)
Presentation of background, methodology, and consensus domains, with a focus on safety and equity implications.
2. Priority recommendations (10 min)
Presentation of 10–12 key statements, each linked to clinical relevance and implementation considerations.
3. Small-group work (25 min)
Participants will work in small groups to:
a. Refine selected recommendations,
b. Define operational steps (who, what, how),
c. Propose indicators (e.g., safety events, access measures, continuity indicators, equity-sensitive metrics),
d. Identify risks and mitigation strategies, including approaches to unintended consequences in digital care.
4. Plenary synthesis and prioritisation (15 min)
Short group feedback and structured voting to prioritise recommendations and confirm a shortlist for the position paper.
5. Implementation and communication planning (13 min)
Discussion of dissemination channels, local adaptation strategies, prerequisites for implementation (training, governance, interoperability), and next procedural steps toward publication and adoption.