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Table 1 Residents’ and coaches’ perceptions of virtual coaching on telemedicine encounters: qualitative themes and categorical frequencies

From: Feasibility and acceptability of virtually coaching residents on communication skills: a pilot study

Qualitative Themes

Categorical Labels

no. (%)

(n = 82a)

Exemplary Quotes

Comments

Virtual Coaching Minimizes Logistic Issues with More Flexibility

Logistics

10

(12.2 %)

- “Easy scheduling, opportunity for immediate feedback. Easily accessible as people can be in different locations. Saves time on transportation.” [Resident]

- “The virtual nature of the visits reduces overall time burden for coaches.” [Coach]

Telemedicine encounters and virtual coaching sessions were considered easier to arrange and offered more flexibility for participants in different locations than in-person coaching, with reduced time spent on transportation.

Technical Skills are Necessary in Virtual Coaching

Technology

16

(19.5 %)

- “[The challenges are] mostly technical challenges of having multiple people on a Zoom call when the patient is not savvy.” [Resident]

Technical problems and poor technical capabilities of participants were perceived as the biggest challenges of virtual coaching.

Coach’s Presence as “Fly on the Wall” Observer Possible with Virtual Coaching

Coach Presence

23

(28.0 %)

- “It is easier to ignore the coach’s presence on televisit than in person, which is helpful. [Resident]

- “Far less intrusive than being physically present, potentially minimizing the distraction to the patient and trainee of having a third person in a room and allowing a more “natural” conversation to unfold.” [Coach]

The coach could “truly disappear into the background during observations” [Coach]. The coach was repeatedly referred to as a “fly on the wall.” Virtual observations were described as “more natural” and “less stressful” than in-person observations.

Virtual Coaching Promotes Feedback

Feedback

12

(14.6 %)

- “I really appreciated the observation and feedback. It really helped me to better understand my communication strengths and weaknesses. It was really helpful to debrief shortly thereafter.” [Resident]

- “Just one session was immensely valuable in helping me make several small changes to my telehealth visits that I am still doing.” [Resident]

Virtual coaching was seen as an opportunity for immediate feedback; feedback was perceived as useful, particularly in the area of verbal communication.

Innate Qualities of Telemedicine Enhanced by Virtual Coaching

Characteristics of Virtual Coaching

21

(25.6 %)

- “Challenges encountered in a video visit does not always translate to in-person visits and vice versa. I think it would still be helpful to have in-person coaching in addition to the video session.” [Resident]

- “Telehealth encounters have unique communication barriers […] that also need to be taught / optimized.” [Coach]

Virtual coaching was perceived as a unique approach, distinctive from in-person coaching. Also, participants foresaw telemedicine to be commonly used in the future, therefore worth learning skills to make successful.

  1. aNumber represents the number of categorical sentiments expressed by respondents to the open-ended questions that were included in the qualitative analysis