Patient reactions to specialist telemedicine consultations - a sociological approach

A sociological study was made of patient experiences of telemedical special ist consultations in northern Norway. The study made use of a qualitative m ethodological approach. The data were collected through unstructured in-dep th interviews of patients or the parents of very young patients. The patien ts were referred for a telemedical otolaryngology consultation in a randoml y 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 pra ctical and financial reasons. The telemedicine consultation consisted of a general practitioner examining patients endoscopically and realtime transmi ssion of the examination to a specialist by means of a videoconferencing sy stem. Video-communication seemed to restrict personal contact with the spec ialist. 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 intera ction system, with more channels for access, inspection and information, wh ich gave the patients different options for participation in the consultati on.