Patient Experiences with Teamwork During Telehealth Appointments

Abstract

Telehealth has transformed healthcare delivery by allowing patients to connect with their healthcare providers using audiovisual technology. There is a growing need to understand teamwork dynamics in virtual care encounters. The purpose of this study was to explore patient experiences of teamwork during telehealth appointments with their medical care team. This qualitative study involved semi-structured virtual interviews with 19 patients recruited from a midwest academic medical center who had a chronic condition and had participated in multiple telehealth appointments with their care team. Participants discussed their experiences with telehealth and interactions with their care team. Interview transcripts were analyzed by two independent reviewers using a thematic analysis to identify common teamwork themes. Participants commonly interacted with physicians or advanced practice providers during appointments, while also engaging with nurses, technicians, and administrative staff throughout all telehealth appointment phases. Key teamwork processes included both verbal and asynchronous communication as well as monitoring and adjusting of the patient care plan. Participants emphasized the importance of the online patient portal as playing a key role in facilitating these teamwork processes. Future research should explore provider perspectives of teamwork during telehealth, and tools to enhance pre-appointment information gathering and preparation in advance of a telehealth appointment.