Telemedical teamwork between home and hospital: a synergetic triangle emerges

The aim of this paper is to describe the effect on the clinical cooperation when introducing video consultations in the home of the patient. The study was conducted as a Participatory Design process containing workshops, field studies, clinical experiments and pilot tests involving participants from the Danish primary and secondary care sectors as well as patients and relatives. The video consultation set-up constitutes a new organisational way of working, described as "a new triangle", based on immediate inter-individual cooperation and team-work. In the triangle, competences were combined which led to a more holistic treatment and a more active role of the patient. Furthermore, a spreading of knowledge between all participants was seen, resulting in an upgrading of the competences of especially the visiting nurse. The introduction of a real-time, on-line link between hospital and home constitutes the basis for simultaneous communication between all participants, resulting in a "witnessing" situation potentially securing or even enhancing quality of treatment.