Table 1.

Subthemes related to Theme 1: ‘Telehealth had value, but generally perceived as inferior to in-person care’.

Subtheme	Illustrative quotes
Valuable if in-person care is not an option	The positive I feel is that it was better than not having any contact, but I would always prefer the physio, to go to the actual practitioner (P1); That physio wasn't seeing patients face-to-face. So, if telehealth hadn't been an option, I would've skipped it. [Telehealth] enabled it to happen as it opposed to not happen (P4); I think it's second-best, but I don't think it's a disaster (P3); I think these type of things [telehealth] they really, aren't as good as face-to-face. But in saying that I felt like they did, they served a purpose (P14).
Surprised at value, after initial hesitation	It's been pretty darn good. I've been pleasantly surprised … I was a little bit sceptical and thinking, “How is this gonna work?” but his delivery was fantastic and the outcomes had been great (P9); I was a bit sceptical at first cause I thought physios are more hands on and that's where you get your benefits but it was a really nice way to still get my treatment while being able to learn a few, I guess, ways where I could do it myself, so it's good (P12); I was a bit hesitant, but my physio was able to basically tell me and show me everything he needed to tell me and show me to give me the rehab exercises to improve, and the improvement was shown (P13).
Part of hybrid model in certain situations or conditions	I would hope it only became as an occasional arrangement rather than replacing the real thing …. So, it's not something I'd want to do all the time (P10); I think that anything that involves follow-up, maybe recovery rather than treatment – I don't know – initial acute treatment. I can imagine that being as successful as follow-up recovery, checking in about progress, changing exercises if need be or recovery pathways. I think they work quite well on Telehealth (P8); I realised I don't always need to see them face-to-face to get value from the consultation and it saves my travel and it saves their time as well. So I think there's a place for it across a range of options for people (P2); If you could use telehealth potentially to have an initial consult that may be set up for something that was physical later, then I think that was good in terms of basic diagnostic information … some of that triaging may be suitable for Telehealth (P11).
Cost should be the same or less	You are still getting an appointment with an experienced professional, so you're not really missing out in any way from that (P15); I would say that if you could create better Telehealth appointments in future that I wouldn't expect to pay any different for the service that's provided (P11); From the operator's point of view, it's as time-consuming and does the trick, then probably the price could be the same (P10); I was happy to pay for it, but I thought paying the full price when things like rents and the option of [certain] treatment wasn't available, so I thought a slightly reduced price was pretty reasonable (P13); I think there should be a difference in cost, absolutely. I think being face-to-face, it probably should be at a higher cost rather than through the computer. Why do I think that? Only because it's a little bit more impersonal. The full benefit of actually, like I just said, speaking to somebody, having that personal contact (P14).
Existing physiotherapist-patient relationship was considered valuable to facilitate telehealth	I have seen my same provider for 15 years, so when COVID happened, it was just a really easy step for us to do (P12); We'd met [the physio] before on numerous occasions, so I think that made a big difference. I don't think I'd want to do it to – as the first day effort (P10); He already knew about my problems and my history as I've been seeing him for a couple of years now. So, I don't know. It would've been a bit more hard if you were seeing someone for the first time or you had a new injury (P7).