Telehealth’s Semi-anonymous Effect

Telehealth also referred to as telemedicine, entails the provision of health care services by use of video or audio technology. Since the hit of the pandemic, telehealth has been made a standard in more practices to minimize cost and provide quality and efficient care and patient satisfaction (Mechanic & Kimball, 2019). Telehealth gives the patient a semi-anonymous feature that allows the patient to share personal data while at the same time maintaining a specific privacy level. The performance of patients sharing personal information in the semi-anonymous environment is discussed.

Research shows that patients give more honest information with telehealth than in-person meetings. Information accuracy over telehealth is attributed to the fact that people who interact directly with computers, report lower disclosure of fear and show emotions more strongly than when interacting with a human. The semi-anonymity perception fosters a psychological safety sense, hence reducing any barriers to communication and encouraging them to disclose important information for accurate medical diagnosis and treatment planning (O’Malley & Shaikh, 2022). Patients do better in semi-anonymous environments, as they feel less stigmatized and judged when discussing sensitive topics about their health by the use of telehealth. Furthermore, the ability to enable patients to maintain confidentiality and share personal information remotely leads to a more positive experience for the patient. Consequently, there is increased satisfaction with healthcare interaction. In sensitive and embarrassing conditions, patients feel comfortable and convenient when using telehealth compared to in-person visits (O’Malley & Shaikh, 2022).

However, telehealth has been found to have diagnostic errors even though patients give accurate information. O’Malley & Shaikh (|2022) note that these errors result from poor history taking due to poor communication, limited physical examinations such as auscultation, and reliance on patients’ and patients’ families to describe their physical findings and take their vital signs.

References

Mechanic, O. J., & Kimball, A. B. (2019). Telehealth Systems. Nih.gov; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459384/

O’Malley, G., & Shaikh, U. (2022). Telehealth and Patient Safety. Psnet.ahrq.gov. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/telehealth-and-patient-safety