The rise of telemedicine in primary care: understanding patients' and healthcare workers' perspectives on acceptability of the COVID-19 remote care model

Background. Remote monitoring of vital signs combined with teleconsultations has been proposed as an effective method of care for COVID-19 patients. However, the acceptability of the remote care model has yet to be explored.Objectives. To explore patients' and healthcare workers' views and experiences with the COVID-19 remote care programme using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) and identify challenges for further dissemination.Material and methods. A qualitative study was conducted with 25 patients and 5 healthcare workers from three primary care centres in Slovenia who participated in the COVID-19 remote care programme. In-depth interviews, informed by the TFA, were conducted by phone or face-to-face, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed by two independent researchers using a template content analysis guided by seven TFA domains, with the possibility of inductively adding codes from the text as needed. Results. The remote care model proved acceptable to patients and healthcare workers in all seven TFA domains. For patients, the remote care model provided a sense of security, physician interest and the ability to detect deterioration in health early, while healthcare workers found it useful for triaging and protecting against disease transmission. However, both reported the additional burden and risk of unreliable pulse oximetry readings.Conclusions. The remote care model proved acceptable and scalable to other respiratory diseases in primary care. Key challenges to further scaling include the complexity of system design and data sharing, the uncertain role of registered nurses and family members and the need to on self behaviours.