Patient reactions to specialist telemedicine consultations--a sociological approach.
A sociological study was made of patient experiences of telemedical specialist consultations in northern Norway. The study made use of a qualitative methodological approach. The data were collected through unstructured in-depth interviews of patients or the parents of very young patients. The patients were referred for a telemedical otolaryngology consultation in a randomly selected period of three months. Of a total of 35 patients, 15 refused to participate in the study. Of the 20 remaining, three were excluded for practical and financial reasons. The telemedicine consultation consisted of a general practitioner examining patients endoscopically and realtime transmission of the examination to a specialist by means of a videoconferencing system. Video-communication seemed to restrict personal contact with the specialist. In spite of that, it was not the video-communication itself but the social situation that mattered to the patients. Compared with an ordinary medical consultation, a telemedical consultation represented a wider interaction system, with more channels for access, inspection and information, which gave the patients different options for participation in the consultation.
Holtan
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University of Tromsø, Norway. amyh@fagmed.uit.no
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010036:Otolaryngology / Q000379:methods*; D010358:Patient Participation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000379:methods*