Provider perspectives of telemedicine encounter quality

Abstract

Telemedicine systems have the potential to revolutionise healthcare by enhancing quality and efficiency through virtual access. To serve this goal, it is fundamental to understand the telemedicine encounter process. Holistic (sociotechnical) understanding of telemedicine encounter quality is still limited. We conduct this study from the position of the medical professionals who directly use the technology and are accountable for patient care. We use a field study comprising multiple methods (direct observation, interview, survey) and perspectives (researcher, provider) to collect and interpret data. Based on the data, we develop a rich model of telemedicine encounter quality attributes. We discuss the derived quality attributes (including the relevance of each attribute) and identify opportunities for their control in terms of who can apply control and when the control is best applied. Practical implications and future directions are presented.