Telemedicine in specialised palliative care: Healthcare professionals' and their perspectives on video consultations—A qualitative study

Abstract

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the advantages and disadvantages of using video consultations, as experienced by specialised palliative care healthcare professionals, who are involved in palliative care at home. BACKGROUND: One challenge in the work of specialised palliative care teams is the substantial resources used in terms of time and transport to and from the patient's home. Video consultations may be a solution for real-time specialised palliative home care. DESIGNS: Hermeneutic, postphenomenology. METHODS: An explorative qualitative study utilising data from field notes of an autobiographical diary, participant observations and semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals. The COREQ guideline was used for reporting the study. See Appendix S1. The data collection took place in patients' homes and at the Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. RESULTS: Eight participants (n = 8); five community nurses; and three specialised palliative care team members-a head physician, a physiotherapist and a nurse-participated in the study. The healthcare professionals' knowledge was based on n = 82 video consultations with 11 patients. The range of video consultations was 3-18 per patient. The use of tablets in video consultations facilitated direct palliative care and led the community nurses and the specialised palliative care team nurse to co-operate. Potential barriers against using video consultations are the discussions about personal, and private issues regarding the illness, while family members are present. CONCLUSIONS: Video consultations in specialised palliative home care are feasible, and the technology can facilitate multidisciplinary participation and co-operation among healthcare professionals. The continuous use of video consultations over time may increase the quality of specialised palliative home care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The use of video consultations can provide direct specialised palliative care over distance involving healthcare professionals, patients and their relatives.