Patient's Perceptions of a Centralized Virtual Ward for Remote Patient Monitoring in Primary Care: Qualitative Study

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has the potential to reduce in-clinic visits and promote proactive and preventive care for patients with chronic diseases in primary care. However, a decentralized approach to RPM in a primary health care (PHC) setting has not met stakeholders' expectations regarding scalability. This study introduces a centralized virtual ward (CVW)-led RPM, utilizing a multidisciplinary team approach to monitor patients with chronic diseases by clinicians who do not belong to the patients' PHC center.

This study aimed to gain a better understanding of patients' perceptions of CVW-led RPM for managing chronic diseases in a PHC setting.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 patients with chronic diseases enrolled at a PHC center in Stockholm, Sweden. The RPM project ran between October 2018 and April 2019 and included a total of 395 patients. Interviews followed a semistructured interview guide and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Primary care patients with chronic diseases expressed that their contact with the CVW felt impersonal but at the same time secure and accessible. They noted a lack of coordination and communication between the clinicians of the CVW and their PHC providers. Captured data resulted in 1 overarching theme "Sense of security and accessibility, but impersonal and uncoordinated" based on 5 categories: sense of security, care and self-care, accessibility, quality of care, and communication.

Our findings suggest that by addressing patients' needs for new organizational routines for patient-caregiver communication, RPM via centralized virtual wards can better realize the potential of this technology.