Casual Behaviors in Telemedicine

Abstract

Background: Telemedicine is emerging as a new way for patients to access medical care. When patients are allowed to conduct video or audio visits from home, it can empower them to be more casual in their interactions with their providers. Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify provider attitudes regarding various telemedicine situations. From this study, a standard of care for telemedicine scenarios may start to be determined which can empower physicians to deal with various scenarios they may encounter. Design: A mass survey regarding questions related to certain casual patient behaviors and provider comfort and acceptance of these behaviors was sent out to providers at the Primary care, Family medicine, and Internal medicine departments at Loyola University Medical University. Results: 42 providers responded to the survey who was predominantly white female physicians at the medical center. In regards to patient behaviors, there was a significant difference between the levels of casualness providers ranked themselves versus their comfort level with various patient behaviors. More than half of the respondents had a difficult telehealth encounter but only half of the providers actually attempted to rectify the patient behavior. Conclusion: Problematic patient behavior during telehealth encounters poses a new challenge to many providers. A better understanding of which patient behaviors and activities cause providers distress is important to assess. However, the next step involves creating set guidelines and protocols to empower providers to speak up during difficult telehealth visits.