Body objectified? Phenomenological perspective on patient objectification in teleconsultation

The global crisis of Covid-19 pandemic has considerably accelerated the use of teleconsultation (consultation between the patient and the doctor via video platforms). While it has some obvious benefits and drawbacks for both the patient and the doctor, it is important to consider – what is the possible impact teleconsultation has on the quality of the patient-doctor relationship? I am proposing to approach this issue from a phenomenological perspective combining both insights of the phenomenological tradition, i.e., the concepts of the lived body and the object body, and the results from the phenomenologically informed qualitative research study on the patient experience of teleconsultation, with an aim to determine what kind of impact teleconsultation has on the patient experience of objectification and, subsequently, on the quality of online health care. The theoretical background against which I have developed this study comprises discussions within the field of phenomenology of medicine regarding the different sources of patient objectification within clinical encounter and the arguments concerning the negative impact that objectification has on quality of care. Based on the results of the qualitative research study, I will argue that in teleconsultation, the objectification of the patient is significantly reduced, which leads to an increased sense of patient agency and the transformation of the hierarchical patient-health care professional relationship, all of which have a positive impact on quality of care both online and in person.