Human factors in primary care telemedicine encounters.
Traditional delivery of primary care takes place in a face-to-face transaction between provider and patient. In telemedicine, however, the transaction is 'filtered' by the distance and technology. The potential problem of filtered communication in a telemedicine encounter was examined from a human factors perspective. Patients with and without experience of telemedicine, and providers who had experience of telemedicine, were asked about patient-provider relationships in interviews and focus groups. Seven themes emerged: initial impressions, style of questions, field of view, physical interaction, social talk, control of encounter and ancillary services. This suggests that communication can be improved and better patient-provider relationships can be developed in a primary care telemedicine encounter if attention is paid to four areas of the interaction: verbal, non-verbal, relational and actions/transactional. The human factors dimension of telemedicine is an important element in delivery of health care at a distance - and is one of few factors over which the provider has direct control.
AT&T Center for Telehealth Research and Policy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0406, USA. rjbulik@utmb.edu
Robert J
RJ
Bulik
D003142:Communication; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000592:standards; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000941:ethics; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards*; D016896:Treatment Outcome