Dimension | Perceived Benefits (Frequency)* | Perceived Limitations (Frequency)* |
---|---|---|
Clinical/Patient care | Access to specialised services (5 md, 9 hm) Potential to save costs for patients (3 md, 4 hm) Facilitates management of transfers (4 md) Allows distant follow-up that improves continuity of care (3 md) Improves information circulation (3 md) | Telehealth will never replace on site physician (6 md, 1 hm) |
Professional | Access to a second opinion (10 md, 2 hm) Facilitates communication with peers (7 md, 3 hm) Diminishes the feeling of isolation (3 md, 2 hm) | Anticipated changes in the definition of tasks and responsibilities (2 md, 2 hm) |
Educational | Knowledge development and update (7 md, 2 hm) Increases access to CME (4 md, 4 hm) Multi-disciplinary/multi-centered exchanges (3 md) | Teleeducation cannot substitute for all CME activities (2 md, 1 hm) |
Organisational/Systemic | Supports the hospital as a regional reference centre (6 md, 5 hm) Ensures availability of services (4 md, 3 hm) Saves time and money for meetings (4 md, 3 hm) Potential to save costs for health system (3 md, 4 hm) Better organisation of on-call duties (4 md) | Fear of replacing regional specialists (3 md, 2 hm) Heavy logistics needed in the two sites (2 md, 2 hm) Lack of commitment from the organisation (2 md, 1 hm) |