Healthcare in the hand: Patients’ use of handheld technology in video consultations with their general practitioner

• Published in: Digital health Vol. 8; p. 20552076221104669
• Main Authors: Jepsen, Carole, Lüchau, Elle Christine, Assing Hvidt, Elisabeth, Grønning, Anette
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 2022; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Original Research; Patients; Telemedicine; telemedicine; mobility; healthcare delivery; general practice; Video consultations; multimodal social semiotics; technology; communication
• ISSN: 2055-2076; 2055-2076
• DOI: 10.1177/20552076221104669

Objective
To analyse how the patient's use of handheld technology in video consultations with their general practitioner affects communication and the possibilities for the delivery of quality healthcare. Focusing on the visually communicated aspects of the video consultation, we present three episodes from our recordings of eight video consultations between Danish general practitioners and patients.
Methods
Using a multimodal social semiotic framework to conduct a micro-level analysis, we present episodes from our data in which the hardware's affordance of mobility gave rise to salient events in the interactions of patients who used handheld devices to carry out their video consultations.
Results
Patients’ use of technology plays a significant role in the interactions between general practitioner and patient and is thus an important factor to consider in how practice is shaped when using handheld video consultation technology.
Conclusions
Our findings demonstrate that the mobility of handheld devices (smartphone, tablet) can be used to augment sensing and embodiment and enhance the delivery of healthcare in video consultations. However, mobility may also disrupt the interaction. As a result, possibilities for the delivery of quality healthcare lie quite literally in the patients’ hands.