[2026-07-17] Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives With Telehealth in Home Visits: A Qualitative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33165/rmj.2027.e279929Keywords:
Tele-home visits, Healthcare professionals, Qualitative research, Family medicineAbstract
Background: Telemedicine has been increasingly adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic. Although numerous studies have demonstrated its effectiveness and explored patients' perceptions across various medical specialties, its application in home visit services and healthcare professionals' perspectives remain underexplored.
Objective: To explore healthcare professionals' perspectives on tele-home visits.
Methods: A qualitative study using semistructured focus group discussions was conducted among multidisciplinary healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals, with experience in tele-home visits. Four focus group sessions (3 onsite and one online) were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results: Seventeen healthcare professionals participated. The main theme was perspectives on tele-home visits, comprising 6 subthemes: situational necessity, digital disruption of care delivery, flexibility of care, perceptions of care quality standards, reduced multidisciplinary collaboration, and challenges in telehealth competencies among healthcare professionals. Additional findings included patient characteristics, perceived advantages and disadvantages, and areas for improvement.
Conclusions: Rather than replacing conventional home visits, tele-home visits may serve as a complementary model of care in appropriate clinical contexts. However, the development of a clearly defined and structured system is needed to distinguish tele-home visits from general teleconsultation services. In addition, further economic evaluation is essential to better understand feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability before broader implementation at the health system level.
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