Table 6.

Benefits and drawbacks of telehealth according to the “Effectiveness” outcome factor per perspective.

Perspective and benefits of telehealth			Drawbacks of telehealth
Primary care clinician perspective
	Easier to share medical records with patients via screen sharing during video consultations [19] More efficient consultations with patients (ie, focused discussions and pretriaging procedures to preidentify concerns) [32]	Lack of guidance on appropriate ways to address serious adverse events related to telehealth [1] Increased reliance on trusting patients’ reported symptoms and self-examination assessment [33] Not suited for complex symptom presentations or diagnoses that require physical examinations (eg, chest pain, stomach pain, and potential new cancer) [1,9]
Patient perspective
	Improved ability for patients to self-manage their health because of their ability to share their medications or self-care practices at home with their clinicians [1] Most patients can self-assess the suitability of telehealth according to their health concerns [25]	Still requiring in-person consultations despite having had a teleconsultation already [25]
Both primary care clinician and patient perspective
	Perceived to be suitable for dermatological concerns and renewal of prescriptions or self-monitoring programs for improved patient outcomes [23,25]	Unsuitable for certain at-risk patient groups (eg, people who are mentally unstable or have low hearing and vision, young children, and people with cognitive impairment) [31,33]