Table 4 Reasons for choosing an in-person visit
Main themes | Sub-themes | Number of quotes |
|---|---|---|
Physical examination | Detailed and complete physical examination of the patient | 217 |
High quality examination tools in in-person visit | 10 | |
More accurate assessment of the patient | 8 | |
Reduction of medical errors by physical examination | 5 | |
Accurate decision-making by the physicians | 1 | |
More physician focus on the patient’s words | 1 | |
Physician paying more attention to the patient | 1 | |
Spending more time for the patient’s examination by the physician | 1 | |
Disease diagnosis | More accurate diagnosis of the disease | 301 |
Reducing misdiagnoses | 68 | |
More accuracy of the physician in the examination | 30 | |
Faster diagnosis of the disease by the physician | 6 | |
Providing a better clinical history by the patient | 5 | |
Lack of use of telemedicine in diagnosing some diseases | 3 | |
More accurate understanding of the symptoms by the physician | 2 | |
Diagnosis of disease severity | 1 | |
Making treatment decisions faster | 1 | |
Reducing misconceptions | 1 | |
Provide more accurate, clearer and more honest explanations about the disease and its symptoms by the patient | 1 | |
Easy interpretation and analysis of the disease | 1 | |
Determining the exact location of the pain by the patient | 1 | |
Treatment | More accurate and better treatment of the disease | 186 |
More confidence and trust in-person visits | 105 | |
Faster treatment | 35 | |
More adherence of the patient to the treatment | 18 | |
More commitment of the physician to treat the patients | 5 | |
Better and more complete exchange of patient information with the physician | 4 | |
Reducing medical errors and the risks of treatment | 3 | |
More motivation of the physician to treat the patients | 3 | |
Better understanding of how to perform post-treatment processes | 1 | |
Easier remembering of previous treatments done for the patient | 1 | |
Receiving medical services more easily from the nurses | 1 | |
Reducing treatment problems for the patients | 1 | |
High quality of treatment in in-person visits | 1 | |
Prescription and Medication | Better prescription of medicines | 43 |
More accuracy of physician in prescribing medicines and fewer errors in prescriptions | 2 | |
Regular use of medicines | 1 | |
Fewer drug side effects | 1 | |
Face-to-face communication with the physician | Direct, visual, comfortable and better communication between the patient and the physician | 84 |
Physician paying more attention to the patient | 33 | |
Patient’s clear response to the doctor’s questions | 10 | |
Closer communication between the patient and the physician | 20 | |
Providing better quality services | 12 | |
Providing a better clinical history by patient | 3 | |
Comfortable interaction of children with the physician | 2 | |
Not neglecting patient-provided clinical information to the physician | 1 | |
Better guidance of the patient in carrying out treatment processes | 1 | |
Psychological aspects | Feeling better and more confident about the quick treatment of the disease | 12 |
More peace of mind for the patient during the treatment | 6 | |
Creating a positive feeling to continue further treatment | 5 | |
Patient’s mastery of speaking to provide a history to the physician | 1 | |
More understanding of the patient by the physician | 1 | |
Traditional and religious view of accepting in-person visits | ||
Increasing patients’ self-confidence | 1 | |
Habit of visiting the clinic in person | 1 | |
Insurance and reimbursement | Being covered by insurance for drugs for certain diseases | 1 |
Use of insurance | 1 | |
Information technology infrastructure | Lack of computer infrastructure and strong network for telemedicine | 21 |
No need for computer and digital knowledge and literacy | 17 | |
Constant Internet outages | 1 | |
Low bandwidth | 11 | |
Lack of culture to use technologies | 11 | |
No need for computers and other powerful communication equipment such as mobile phones | 4 | |
Slow internet speed | 1 | |
Lack of experience in using telemedicine | 1 | |
Security and privacy | Maintaining patient privacy | 5 |
Maintaining confidentiality of information | 3 | |
Fearing of easy disclosure of information in telemedicine | 2 | |
Maintaining information security | 1 | |
Lack of clear rules in the field of electronic disclosure of patient information | 1 | |
Cyber fraud | 1 | |
Hacking and unauthorized access to medical record information | 1 | |
Fraud and abuse of patient data | 1 | |
Laboratory tests | Necessity of conducting clinical tests in person | 1 |
Better interpretation of the results of clinical tests | 1 |