Telehealth and Technology for Diabetes in Pregnancy Clinics: Staff Perspectives from South Auckland, New Zealand
Table 2
The impact of video calling on the ability to work collaboratively with patients.
Video calling would be an asset
“.. for them (patients) to know who their doctor or midwife is, or her dietician is, is different when it’s a voice versus a voice and a live video link.” (Physician) “Video consult would be better… you can easily gauge if someone understands…you can adjust how you are explaining something according to their reaction.” (Obstetrician) “... if they say, ‘I’ve got a problem with my meter’, and if they can switch on their video and show me what they are having problems with, it’s way easier than describing it to me.” (Dietitian)
Video calling would be a disadvantage
“The other barrier is economical. Most of our women live in the most deprived areas and therefore, do not have the credit on their phone or the data to be able to, you know, accept phone calls.” (Obstetrician) “…barriers may be concealed by face-to-face clinics. But, when it becomes a phone consult or video link, we may find that our patients will struggle with it. So, it’s the question of availability, affordability, and ability to utilise and with that comes equity amongst our patients.” (Physician)
