Abstract

A telehealth stethoscope would make it possible for doctors to perform physical examinations on patients at great distances. In order to develop a useful and useable telehealth stethoscope we have conducted fieldwork observations of existing anaesthetic preadmission clinics to understand how stethoscopes are currently used. Both face-to-face consultations and videoconference consultations have been studied. Our results indicate that the stethoscope plays a minor role in the consultation and that consultations are mediated by the administrative work that is the reason for the consultation. We suggest that a stethoscope plays an infrastructural role in the consultation. The implications of considering stethoscopes as infrastructure are explored and considered in the context of a future telehealth stethoscope.

Keywords

Interaction, Stethoscope, Infrastructure, Telehealth, Expertise

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Jul 7th, 12:00 AM

Interaction and Mediation in Preadmission Clinics: Implications for the Design of a Telehealth Stethoscope

A telehealth stethoscope would make it possible for doctors to perform physical examinations on patients at great distances. In order to develop a useful and useable telehealth stethoscope we have conducted fieldwork observations of existing anaesthetic preadmission clinics to understand how stethoscopes are currently used. Both face-to-face consultations and videoconference consultations have been studied. Our results indicate that the stethoscope plays a minor role in the consultation and that consultations are mediated by the administrative work that is the reason for the consultation. We suggest that a stethoscope plays an infrastructural role in the consultation. The implications of considering stethoscopes as infrastructure are explored and considered in the context of a future telehealth stethoscope.

 

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