Table 2.

Summary of coding categories and codes describing patient perspectives of e-visits.

Higher-order coding category or theme	Code	Proportiona, n/N	Sample quotation
Acceptance of the concept of e-visits	Favors the idea of e-visits	11/19	“I wholeheartedly endorse that. I think it’s not just a good idea, it’s essential”
	Willing to try e-visits	14/18	“All of sudden [if I] have sores in my mouth or something like that, I'm sure that could be handled through an e-visit.”
	Thinks e-visits may help prevent office visits	11/16	“The actual cost [of an in-person visit] is a lot more because of transportation…and lost opportunity to do something else”
	Thinks providers should be fairly compensated for their time	11/18	“I am still using his time, so he definitely should get compensated for that because they are giving me medical advice”
Preference for synchronous communicationb	Preference for synchronous communicationb	10/16	“[The patient portal] is not very effective because there’s a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding.” “I’m constantly having to ask for repetition. This is good because it helps me understand if the doctor is understanding me, as well as me understanding the doctor. In a text message you don’t get that.”
Concerns about e-visits	Naming convention is confusing	10/16	“I don’t know what it means…I think you would have to say something like an online visit, or online medical advice”
	Difficulty choosing right visit type within the patient portal	8/14	“the doctor [should] make the call.” “if there were some guidelines, that could help the patient”
	Discomfort expressing medical questions in writing	7/18	“You’re relying upon your narrative. You have to express in [the patient portal] within a certain amount of words exactly what the issue is. And believe me, that sometimes can't be captured.”
Discomfort using technologyb	Discomfort using technologyb	6/18	“[My parents] don’t have the computer skills. They are from the telephone era. They prefer talking to a human being and it makes sense to them versus typing…” “I never could remember my password. Well, ok, that’s because I’m old.”

^aWe excluded participants from the denominator if they did not answer the pertinent question(s).

^bSingular topics that were common within the data set are included as both a code and a theme.