The Value of Physical Examination in the Era of Telemedicine
Abstract
Telemedicine use has expanded rapidly to cope with increasing demand on services by delivering remote clinical review and monitoring of long-term conditions. Triaging individual patients to determine their suitability for telephone, video or face-to-face consultations is necessary. This is crucial in the context of COVID-19 to ensure doctor-patient safety. Telemedicine was shown to be safe and feasible in managing certain chronic diseases and providing patient education. When reviewing newly referred or long-term patients, different specialty clinics have different requirements for physical examination. Clinicians prefer face-to-face consultations at the initial visit to establish a doctor-patient relationship; telephone or video consultations are reasonable options for long-term patients where physical examination may not be needed. Video consultations, often aided by sophisticated devices and apps or medical assistants, are useful to facilitate remote physical examination. Most patients prefer telemedicine as it saves time and travel cost and provides better access to appointments.
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The missing detailed observations in remote consultation may be crucial for diagnoses.
“The missing detailed observations may be crucial for diagnoses [242].”
From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [242]
Non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and subtle symptom presentation, can be ignored or unobserved during remote consultation.
“Moreover, non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and subtle symptom presentation, can be ignored or unobserved during remote consultation.”
From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [242]
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- Authors
- Lee, P. S., Koo, S., & Panter, S.
- Affiliations
- South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Phey Shen
- Venue
- Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2021-03
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 85-90
- ISSN
- 1478-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 2042-8189
- OpenAlex
- W3154973394
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 4.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Healthcare Systems and Technology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine › Ultrasound in Clinical Applications
- Keywords
- telemedicine, physical examination, video consultation, telephone consultation, chronic disease, chronic disease management, COVID-19 pandemic, triage, remote physical examination, patient preferences, health care access
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Ambulatory Care, Chronic Disease, Forecasting, Humans, Long-Term Care, Physical Examination, Physician-Patient Relations, Telemedicine, Remote Consultation
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