Virtual versus in-person meetings for practice guideline panels: A qualitative study

Area of Science:

• Health Policy
• Medical Guidelines
• Research Methodology

Background:

• Guideline panel meetings traditionally occurred in person.
• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift to virtual meeting formats.
• Concerns arose regarding reduced engagement and networking in virtual settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand experiences with virtual and in-person guideline panel meetings.
• To explore perceived advantages and disadvantages of each format.
• To assess the impact of meeting format on recommendation quality.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 participants from diverse roles in guideline development.
• Participants had experience with both in-person and virtual meeting formats.
• Thematic analysis was performed using Quirkos software.

Main Results:

• Virtual meetings were favored for resource efficiency and environmental benefits, but connectivity issues were noted.
• In-person meetings facilitated better engagement and informal interactions.
• No format was found to negatively impact the quality of guideline recommendations.
• Online tools can improve efficiency in both virtual and in-person settings.

Conclusions:

• Participants generally preferred in-person meetings over virtual ones and disliked hybrid formats.
• Combining meeting formats and leveraging online tools can increase efficiency.
• An approach for selecting guideline panel meeting formats is proposed based on findings.