Companies in a wide variety of industries are increasingly turning to technology-based systems to serve customers. The effectiveness of such systems depends on how comfortable users feel with the systems and the quality of technology-based encounters with consumers (Parasuraman and Colby, 2001). Health care is leading the way via using telemedicine for direct patient care. However, holistic (socio-technical) understanding of telemedicine encounter quality is still somewhat limited. To enrich understanding, we use a field study comprising multiple methods (direct observation, interview, survey) and perspectives (researcher and provider) to collect and interpret data. We conduct this study from the position of the health care provider, namely medical professionals who directly use the technology and are accountable for patient care. We enumerate quality attributes in the form of a taxonomy. Furthermore, we enrich understanding and the ability to take action and strategize by discerning the opportunities for controlling each attribute.
