Human factors in primary care telemedicine encounters

Abstract

Summary 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.