Objective: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many appointments were replaced with virtual visits via telemedicine. This rapid implementation affords us the opportunity to explore telemedicine use in daily healthcare, which will allow us to better design telemedicine for long-term use. We set out to understand how providers use telemedicine tools and to surface opportunities to improve these services. Materials and Methods: We conducted an online questionnaire between June and August, 2020. The questionnaire included open-ended questions about providers’ experiences with telemedicine, including situations appropriate and inappropriate for virtual visits and workarounds developed to mitigate challenges with telemedicine. 114 providers took part in the study, and 97 responded to all questions.Results: The most commonly reported challenge with telemedicine was the inability to perform examinations. Providers independently developed strategies to help them better conduct exams. These strategies point to opportunities for sharing telemedicine strategies across healthcare practices and ways in which telemedicine tools may be improved to align with providers’ needs. Discussion: Telemedicine is not currently suitable for physical examinations, leading providers to create their own workarounds to help them better conduct exams virtually. These workarounds present opportunities to improve virtual care by turning workaround strategies into deliberate telemedicine features. Conclusion: Healthcare delivery is becoming increasingly virtual, which can greatly improve healthcare access. It is necessary to apply what we have learned from the quick uptake of telemedicine during the pandemic to improve these platforms for long-term use. Incorporating lessons learned from provider-developed workarounds may help promote sustained use of telemedicine.
Collaborative Care Programs (CCPs) integrate mental health services into primary care settings to help patients access much needed treatment. Technologies could increase the effectiveness of CCPs, but we know little about what collaboration challenges technologies must address in this complex clinical setting. To investigate these challenges and technology opportunities, we conducted interviews and contextual inquiries with 30 patients and providers in an obstetric CCP. Using the Parallel Journeys Framework as a lens, we uncover new collaboration challenges (e.g., weighing risks and benefits of treatment, conflicting opinions and ambiguous responsibilities) at the intersection of patients' obstetric and psychosocial care journeys. We discuss new CSCW implications and technology opportunities, such as the importance of addressing support gaps in cyclical experiences, and the need to resolve provider conflicts to refocus on patient needs. These contributions inform how technologies can support patient engagement and collaboration with providers to access and receive treatment, as well as improve health outcomes.
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