What is it about?
Telemedicine has become an important way to improve access to healthcare, especially in countries such as Indonesia, where many people live far from healthcare facilities. However, telemedicine applications do not always provide the features that physicians need to deliver high-quality care remotely. In this study, we interviewed 17 general practitioners in Indonesia to understand their experiences using telemedicine applications for patient consultations. We explored the clinical tasks physicians perform, the technology features they need, how well current applications support their work, and the impact of telemedicine on healthcare delivery. The findings show that telemedicine helps physicians improve efficiency, service quality, and communication with patients. However, several challenges remain, particularly in conducting physical examinations, integrating medical data and healthcare services, and supporting clinical decision-making. Physicians identified several important features, including better communication tools, integrated medical records, referral systems, and decision-support functions. These findings can help telemedicine providers design better applications and support policymakers in developing standards and regulations for safe, effective, and high-quality telemedicine services.
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Why is it important?
This study is among the first qualitative investigations in Indonesia to examine telemedicine use through the Task-Technology Fit (TTF) framework from the perspective of physicians. Rather than focusing only on technology adoption, it explores how telemedicine supports real clinical tasks and influences healthcare delivery. The findings provide actionable recommendations for designing telemedicine systems that better align with physicians’ needs, helping improve healthcare quality, efficiency, and access. The study is particularly relevant as healthcare systems worldwide continue to expand digital health services beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and seek sustainable ways to deliver care to underserved populations.
Perspectives
As a researcher and academic working in the field of health information systems, I have always been interested in how digital technologies can help address healthcare access challenges, particularly in countries with large geographic disparities such as Indonesia. Telemedicine offers tremendous potential to connect patients with healthcare professionals regardless of location, but its effectiveness depends on whether the technology truly supports physicians in their daily clinical work. Through this study, I had the opportunity to listen directly to the experiences of general practitioners who use telemedicine in real clinical settings. What I found most interesting was that many challenges were not related to physicians’ willingness to use technology, but rather to the extent to which current applications support essential clinical tasks such as diagnosis, communication, referrals, and follow-up care. I hope the findings of this study encourage telemedicine providers, healthcare organizations, and policymakers to place physicians’ needs at the center of telemedicine design and development. Ultimately, better-aligned telemedicine systems can help improve healthcare quality, expand access to care, and contribute to more equitable healthcare services, especially for people living in rural and underserved communities.
Ni Luh Saddhwi Saraswati Adnyani
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Using the task-technology fit model to examine the use of telemedicine applications by general practitioners in Indonesia: A qualitative study, PLOS One, June 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0351130.
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