New Blood in the System: Taking the Pulse of Medical Professionals in a Digital Environment

Abstract: The digitalization of primary care has in recent years enabled the practice of digital medical consulting, affecting the working conditions of many medical professionals. Considering the subsequent effects, e.g. changed work location and patient communication, a corresponding shift in job satisfaction is not a surprising result. Despite the immature nature of the market, the digital shift has already attracted scholarly interest regarding the viewpoint of patients. The perspective of medical professionals, nevertheless, remains widely unexplored. The purpose of this study is to bridge this research gap by exploring how the transition from a physical to digital platform influences medical professionals' job satisfaction. To achieve this, 11 semi-structured interviews with medical professionals were conducted, to later be contextualized through a theoretical analysis. The results reveal that the maximum level of job satisfaction is not achieved from a full transition, but a partial one. This allows employees to reap benefits from increased flexibility, without compromising the social interaction with peers. Overall, the impact of digitalization on job satisfaction found in this study provides deeper insights into other industries that are experiencing similar organizational transformations.