Table 2.

Potential remote focus group pitfalls and related strategies for success

Pitfalls	Success Strategies
Before the session
Limited attendance	Advertising, incentives
	Electronic calendar invitation
	Limit duration to 1 h or less
During the session
Technical difficulties	Arrange for a backup host at each session
	Practice sessions, including pretesting virtual environment
	Dedicate beginning of session to orientation and technical troubleshooting
Low participant engagement	Set “ground rules” at the beginning—ask participants to turn on video if able and to engage with full attention for the limited time
	Can call on participants to draw out their thoughts if individuals are not being as responsive
Suboptimal data collection	Backup host
	Visual recording reminder
Throughout
Privacy risks	Work with IRB to ensure appropriate privacy protections, including HIPAA compliance when needed
	Ensure that commercial video chat platform used for research meets both HIPAA and institutional standards for secure data storage
	Password-protect sessions
	Use the “waiting room” feature, when available
	Always consider privacy deliberately for both data storage and electronic transfer

Definition of abbreviations: IRB = institutional review board; HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.