title: Discovering untapped relationship potential with patients in telehealth: a qualitative interview study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore factors that influence relationship building between telehealth professionals and patients with chronic illness over a distance, from a telehealth professional's perspective.
  
  
  METHODS
  4 focus group interviews were conducted in June 2014. Digital recordings were transcribed verbatim and qualitative content analysis was performed using an iterative process of 3 coding rounds.
  
  
  METHODS
  20 telehealth professionals.
  
  
  METHODS
  A telehealth service centre in the south of Germany that provided care for 12,000 patients with chronic heart failure across Germany.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Non-video telehealth technology creates an atmosphere that fosters sharing of personal information and a non-judgemental attitude. This facilitates the delivery of fair and equal healthcare. A combination of a protocol-driven service structure along with shared team and organisational values provide a basis for establishing long-term healthcare relationships. However, each contact between a telehealth professional and a patient has an uncertain outcome and requires skillful negotiation of the relationship. Although care provision was personalised, there was scope to include the patients as 'experts on their own illness' to a greater extent as advocated by person-centred care. Currently, provision of person-centred care is not sufficiently addressed in telehealth professional training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Telehealth offers a viable environment for the delivery of person-centred care for patients with long-standing disease. Current telehealth training programmes may be enhanced by teaching person-centred care skills.
authors.affiliation: CAPHRI, School for Public Health and Primary Care, UM/CAPHRI, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4047-350X
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heckemann
authors.affiliation: The Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care (GPCC), Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: The Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care (GPCC), Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lilas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Health Care Systems GmbH (HCSG), Bavaria, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen Mark
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sonntag
authors.affiliation: The Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care (GPCC), Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ekman
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005858:Germany; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards*
keywords: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH