Remote is not easy
If the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing protocols have showed us one thing, is that it's very hard to get people to isolate from others. We crave interaction with others in intimite situations, such as in pubs, restaurants, concert halls, or in our own homes. But in order to keep healthcare staff as well as other members of the population safe, consultations are nowadays largely conducted remotely, either by telephone or video. Unless you have an concern that has to be assessed in-person, such as a diabetic foot, you'll likely be talking to your clinician at a distance.
A consultation by video is, however, clearly not the same as one in clinic. Not only can the clinician not lay hands on the patients, and thereby conduct a proper physical examination, but people have to adjust their communication routines to the technology. We typically only show ourselves from the shoulders up, which means that we don't adequately see the non-verbal communication cues we give each other. Establishing eye contact is also impossible, as the camera and the screen are not in the same position. And then there is the frustration we feel when there is a delay in the communication or a distortion that causes us to not see or hear each other. When you're talking to your clinician, those are all pretty annoying.
Over the past few years, I've been investigating how a consultation by video is different from one that is face-to-face, and what kind of support patients and healthcare professionals need, to get the most out of their consultation. Although video consultations have been around for a while, particularly in countries like Australia that have a large rural population, there's very little information about how the communication works. We know that patients and clinicians generally have positive views about remote healthcare, because it saves them travel, time, and money, but all that research is done in situations where video is clearly going to have a benefit and where patients volunteer to use it. With COVID-19, we now have to use it, and suddenly everything seems a lot less shiny.
A consultation by video is, however, clearly not the same as one in clinic. Not only can the clinician not lay hands on the patients, and thereby conduct a proper physical examination, but people have to adjust their communication routines to the technology. We typically only show ourselves from the shoulders up, which means that we don't adequately see the non-verbal communication cues we give each other. Establishing eye contact is also impossible, as the camera and the screen are not in the same position. And then there is the frustration we feel when there is a delay in the communication or a distortion that causes us to not see or hear each other. When you're talking to your clinician, those are all pretty annoying.
Over the past few years, I've been investigating how a consultation by video is different from one that is face-to-face, and what kind of support patients and healthcare professionals need, to get the most out of their consultation. Although video consultations have been around for a while, particularly in countries like Australia that have a large rural population, there's very little information about how the communication works. We know that patients and clinicians generally have positive views about remote healthcare, because it saves them travel, time, and money, but all that research is done in situations where video is clearly going to have a benefit and where patients volunteer to use it. With COVID-19, we now have to use it, and suddenly everything seems a lot less shiny.
Making things better
Building on a decade of research, we have begun to develop some easy tools for patients and clinicians to use when they might want to have a video consultation. We discussed our research with various patient groups, trying to figure out what they were interested in, and how they would best be helped. We also interviewed clinicians across the UK to determine how they have been using video and where they needed support. Based on these conversations, we worked with Design Science to develop some illustrated guidance as well as a short animation. These address some of the most frequent questions people have and provide a good starting point to determine how you can best set up for a video consultation.
We are currently working with a number of hospitals in the UK to determine when video consultations are an appropriate service model, what the associated costs are for healthcare providers, and to improve our initial guidance. A large part of our research is focused on physical examinations, as those seem to be particularly hard to conduct over video. We are also working with technology companies such as Microsoft to see about how we can improve the experience of a video consultation through technological improvements.
We are currently working with a number of hospitals in the UK to determine when video consultations are an appropriate service model, what the associated costs are for healthcare providers, and to improve our initial guidance. A large part of our research is focused on physical examinations, as those seem to be particularly hard to conduct over video. We are also working with technology companies such as Microsoft to see about how we can improve the experience of a video consultation through technological improvements.