Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study
BackgroundThe number of remote video consultations between doctors and patients has increased during the last few years and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health care service is faced with rising rates of chronic illness and many patients who are more confident...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2021-07-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2021/7/e27094 |
| _version_ | 1797735906299346944 |
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| author | Nina Primholdt Christensen Karen Emilie Skou Dorthe Boe Danbjørg |
| author_facet | Nina Primholdt Christensen Karen Emilie Skou Dorthe Boe Danbjørg |
| author_sort | Nina Primholdt Christensen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundThe number of remote video consultations between doctors and patients has increased during the last few years and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health care service is faced with rising rates of chronic illness and many patients who are more confident in self-management of their illnesses. In addition, there is an improved long-term outlook for serious conditions, such as cancer, that might require flexibility in everyday life.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate how medical doctors in the outpatient clinic use and experience the use of video consultations with hematological patients, with a focus on relational and organizational aspects.
MethodsThe study was designed as an explorative and qualitative study. Data were collected via participant observations and focus group interviews with medical doctors.
ResultsThe study identified possibilities and barriers in relation to adapting to the alternative way of meeting patients in the clinical setting. One of the main findings in this study is that the medical doctors were afraid that they missed important observations, as they were not able to perform a physical examination, if needed. They also emphasized that handshake and eye contact were important in order to get an overall impression of the patient’s situation. It also became clear that the medical doctors used body language a lot more during video consultation compared with consultation in a physical setting. The medical doctors found the contact with the patients via the screen to be good, and the fact that the technology was working well made them feel comfortable with the video consultation.
ConclusionsIn this study, we found that the medical doctors were able to maintain good contact with the patients despite the screen and were able to assess the patients in a satisfying manner. However, there were still uncertainties among some doctors about the fact that they could not examine the patients physically. New knowledge about how to use gestures and body language during video consultation was obtained. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:05:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e3bcf88896d14c26bc64e38051c117fd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:05:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-e3bcf88896d14c26bc64e38051c117fd2023-08-28T17:06:46ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2021-07-0157e2709410.2196/27094Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative StudyNina Primholdt Christensenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3634-6877Karen Emilie Skouhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5647-9159Dorthe Boe Danbjørghttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9188-403X BackgroundThe number of remote video consultations between doctors and patients has increased during the last few years and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The health care service is faced with rising rates of chronic illness and many patients who are more confident in self-management of their illnesses. In addition, there is an improved long-term outlook for serious conditions, such as cancer, that might require flexibility in everyday life. ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate how medical doctors in the outpatient clinic use and experience the use of video consultations with hematological patients, with a focus on relational and organizational aspects. MethodsThe study was designed as an explorative and qualitative study. Data were collected via participant observations and focus group interviews with medical doctors. ResultsThe study identified possibilities and barriers in relation to adapting to the alternative way of meeting patients in the clinical setting. One of the main findings in this study is that the medical doctors were afraid that they missed important observations, as they were not able to perform a physical examination, if needed. They also emphasized that handshake and eye contact were important in order to get an overall impression of the patient’s situation. It also became clear that the medical doctors used body language a lot more during video consultation compared with consultation in a physical setting. The medical doctors found the contact with the patients via the screen to be good, and the fact that the technology was working well made them feel comfortable with the video consultation. ConclusionsIn this study, we found that the medical doctors were able to maintain good contact with the patients despite the screen and were able to assess the patients in a satisfying manner. However, there were still uncertainties among some doctors about the fact that they could not examine the patients physically. New knowledge about how to use gestures and body language during video consultation was obtained.https://formative.jmir.org/2021/7/e27094 |
| spellingShingle | Nina Primholdt Christensen Karen Emilie Skou Dorthe Boe Danbjørg Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study |
| title_full | Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study |
| title_fullStr | Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study |
| title_short | Health Care Professionals’ Experiences With the Use of Video Consultation: Qualitative Study |
| title_sort | health care professionals experiences with the use of video consultation qualitative study |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2021/7/e27094 |
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