%0 Journal Article
%@ 2561-326X
%I JMIR Publications
%V 8
%N 
%P e46300
%T Clinicians’ Decision-Making Regarding Telehealth Services: Focus Group Study in Pediatric Allied Health
%A Thomas,Donna Claire
%A Litherland,Eva Frances
%A Masso,Sarah
%A Raymundo,Gianina
%A Keep,Melanie
%+ Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Susan Wakil Health Building, Western Avenue, Camperdown, 2006, Australia, 61 2 93519539, donna.thomas@sydney.edu.au
%K telehealth
%K pediatric
%K allied health
%K focus group
%K decision-making
%K community-based
%K counseling
%K speech pathology
%K occupational therapy
%K clinical services
%D 2024
%7 7.6.2024
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Form Res
%G English
%X Background: Many allied health services now provide both telehealth and in-person services following a rapid integration of telehealth as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how decisions are made about which clinical appointments to provide via telehealth versus in person. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore clinicians’ decision-making when contemplating telehealth for their clients, including the factors they consider and how they weigh up these different factors, and the clinicians’ perceptions of telehealth utility beyond COVID-19 lockdowns. Methods: We used reflexive thematic analysis with data collected from focus groups with 16 pediatric community–based allied health clinicians from the disciplines of speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, social work, psychology, and counseling. Results: The findings indicated that decision-making was complex with interactions across 4 broad categories: technology, clients and families, clinical services, and clinicians. Three themes described their perceptions of telehealth use beyond COVID-19 lockdowns: “flexible telehealth use,” “telehealth can be superior to in-person therapy,” and “fear that in-person services may be replaced.” Conclusions: The findings highlight the complexity of decision-making in a community-allied health setting and the challenges experienced by clinicians when reconciling empirical evidence with their own clinical experience. 
%M 38848121
%R 10.2196/46300
%U https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e46300
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/46300
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38848121