• Yael Keshet, Ariela Popper-Giveon, and Tamar Adar.
• Department of Sociology, Western Galilee Academic College, Derech Hamichlalot, Acre 2426515, Israel.
• Fam Pract. 2024 Oct 19.

BackgroundInformation and communication technologies (ICTs) can enable workers to structure work in novel ways, allow for better time management, and increase work scheduling autonomy. Time management and work scheduling are important factors in the field of clinical practice in primary care. Time limits on consultation are a key constraint on the delivery of good care since the length of patient-physician consultation impacts its quality.ObjectivesThis research aimed to examine the experiences of primary care physicians (PCPs) when using telemedicine technologies (TTs), a type of ICT, in their communication with patients.MethodsDuring 2023 in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 Israeli PCPs: family physicians and pediatricians.FindingsPerception and management of time emerged as a focal subject in the interviews. The PCPs interviewed described several effects of TTs on time management in primary care. They portrayed TTs as saving time for patients and having a mixed effect on the healthcare organization: both saving and wasting their work time. TTs were described as impacting their time management in the context of work-life balance, allowing them to manage their time during and between appointments.DiscussionFor PCPs, TTs can be beneficial for managing time in the clinic, which can contribute to better healthcare. This article, concerning TTs as a type of ICT, contributes to the existing literature which suggests that ICTs can allow for better time management and increase work scheduling autonomy. It also presents several recommendations for better implementation of TTs in healthcare organizations.© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

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