Digitized patient-provider interaction: How does it matter? A qualitative meta-synthesis

Area of Science:

• Sociology of Health
• Digital Health Studies
• Qualitative Research Synthesis

Background:

• Sociological research on health digitization primarily uses qualitative methods.
• A comprehensive synthesis of existing qualitative data on digitally mediated patient-professional interactions is lacking.
• The field has seen steady growth since the late 1990s.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a meta-ethnography of qualitative studies on digitally mediated patient-professional interactions.
• To explore how digitized health practices illuminate social relations in contemporary society.
• To propose a new direction for understanding digital health's relationship with social change.

Main Methods:

• Meta-ethnography of 15 qualitative studies.
• Interpretative synthesis of detailed descriptions of digitized patient-professional interactions.
• Dissection of digitized practices within the patient-professional relationship.

Main Results:

• Digitization of patient-professional interactions leads to respatialization of relations and reconnections of relational components.
• Empirically specific reactions include reconstitutions and renegotiations of social practices.
• These changes are linked to the reconfiguration of fundamental social institutions.

Conclusions:

• Digital health necessitates a sociological perspective focused on structural and interactional changes.
• Digitized health interactions drive significant shifts in social structures and practices.
• Further research should explore digital health's broader connections to contemporary social change.