Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study
Background: Teledermatology is a cost-effective treatment modality for the management of skin disorders. Most evaluations use quantitative data, and far less is understood about the patients’ experience. Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore patients’ perceptions of a teledermatology s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155429 |
| _version_ | 1811687750290636800 |
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| author | Chow, Aloysius Teo, Sok Huang Kong, Jing Wen Lee, Simon Heng, Yee Kiat van Steensel, Maurice Smith, Helen |
| author2 | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) |
| author_facet | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Chow, Aloysius Teo, Sok Huang Kong, Jing Wen Lee, Simon Heng, Yee Kiat van Steensel, Maurice Smith, Helen |
| author_sort | Chow, Aloysius |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Background: Teledermatology is a cost-effective treatment modality for the management of skin disorders. Most evaluations use quantitative data, and far less is understood about the patients’ experience.
Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore patients’ perceptions of a teledermatology service linking public primary care clinics to the national specialist dermatology clinic in Singapore. A better understanding of patients’ experiences can help refine and develop the care provided.
Methods: Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with patients who had been referred to the teledermatology service. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed before undergoing thematic content analysis.
Results: A total of 21 patients aged between 22 and 72 years were recruited. The following 3 themes were identified from the data of patients’ experiences: positive perceptions of teledermatology, concerns about teledermatology, and ideas for improving the teledermatology service. The patients found the teledermatology service convenient, saving them time and expense and liberating them from the stresses incurred when making an in-person visit to a specialist facility. They valued the confidence and reassurance they gained from having a dermatologist involved in deciding their management. The patients’ concern included data security and the quality of the images shared. Nonetheless, they were keen to see the service expanded beyond the polyclinics. Their experiences and perceptions will inform future service refinement and development.
Conclusions: This narrative exploration of users’ experiences of teledermatology produced rich data enabling a better understanding of the patients’ journey, the way they understand and interpret their experiences, and ideas for service refinement. Telemedicine reduces traveling and enables safe distancing, factors that are much needed during pandemics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:21:16Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/155429 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:21:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1554292023-03-05T16:43:38Z Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study Chow, Aloysius Teo, Sok Huang Kong, Jing Wen Lee, Simon Heng, Yee Kiat van Steensel, Maurice Smith, Helen Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, Singapore National Skin Centre, Singapore Skin Research Institute of Singapore, Singapore Science::Medicine Teledermatology Patients Experience Primary Care and Family Medicine Telemedicine Background: Teledermatology is a cost-effective treatment modality for the management of skin disorders. Most evaluations use quantitative data, and far less is understood about the patients’ experience. Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore patients’ perceptions of a teledermatology service linking public primary care clinics to the national specialist dermatology clinic in Singapore. A better understanding of patients’ experiences can help refine and develop the care provided. Methods: Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with patients who had been referred to the teledermatology service. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed before undergoing thematic content analysis. Results: A total of 21 patients aged between 22 and 72 years were recruited. The following 3 themes were identified from the data of patients’ experiences: positive perceptions of teledermatology, concerns about teledermatology, and ideas for improving the teledermatology service. The patients found the teledermatology service convenient, saving them time and expense and liberating them from the stresses incurred when making an in-person visit to a specialist facility. They valued the confidence and reassurance they gained from having a dermatologist involved in deciding their management. The patients’ concern included data security and the quality of the images shared. Nonetheless, they were keen to see the service expanded beyond the polyclinics. Their experiences and perceptions will inform future service refinement and development. Conclusions: This narrative exploration of users’ experiences of teledermatology produced rich data enabling a better understanding of the patients’ journey, the way they understand and interpret their experiences, and ideas for service refinement. Telemedicine reduces traveling and enables safe distancing, factors that are much needed during pandemics. Nanyang Technological University Published version We would like to thank the staff at the polyclinics and specialist center who helped us with the recruitment of patients. This study was funded by a research grant (CPHCRI1.1#001) under the Centre for Primary Health Care Research and Innovation, a partnership between the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, and the National Healthcare Group Singapore. 2022-02-24T01:34:02Z 2022-02-24T01:34:02Z 2022 Journal Article Chow, A., Teo, S. H., Kong, J. W., Lee, S., Heng, Y. K., van Steensel, M. & Smith, H. (2022). Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study. JMIR Dermatology, 5(1), e24956-. https://dx.doi.org/10.2196/24956 2562-0959 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155429 10.2196/24956 1 5 e24956 en CPHCRI1.1#001 JMIR Dermatology © Aloysius Chow, Sok Huang Teo, Jing Wen Kong, Simon Lee, Yee Kiat Heng, Maurice van Steensel, Helen Smith. Originally published in JMIR Dermatology (http://derma.jmir.org), 22.02.2022. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Dermatology Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://derma.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Science::Medicine Teledermatology Patients Experience Primary Care and Family Medicine Telemedicine Chow, Aloysius Teo, Sok Huang Kong, Jing Wen Lee, Simon Heng, Yee Kiat van Steensel, Maurice Smith, Helen Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study |
| title | Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study |
| title_full | Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study |
| title_fullStr | Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study |
| title_short | Patients’ experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems : qualitative study |
| title_sort | patients experiences of telemedicine for their skin problems qualitative study |
| topic | Science::Medicine Teledermatology Patients Experience Primary Care and Family Medicine Telemedicine |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155429 |
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