Usability Barriers to Telemedicine Platforms Among Healthcare Providers

Abstract

This literature review explores the critical usability barriers to telemedicine platforms as experienced by healthcare providers. While telemedicine has grown rapidly particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, its long-term success relies heavily on provider engagement and the usability of digital systems. The review summarises findings across multiple domains including interface and navigation challenges, workflow integration issues, cognitive and information overload, training and digital health literacy, resistance to technology adoption, infrastructure constraints, regulatory concerns and variability by clinical role and setting. Research indicates that healthcare providers frequently encounter fragmented workflows, unintuitive interfaces and extreme cognitive demands during virtual consultations. Many clinicians report receiving minimal training which often contributes to low digital health literacy. These issues are particularly prevalent among clinicians with low digital literacy and those working in low-resource environments. Resistance to telemedicine is frequently linked to a lack of support, poor system alignment with clinical needs and insufficient involvement in the design process. The review also emphasises how usability varies across provider roles and settings highlighting the importance of context-sensitive, role-specific design. Many health practitioners may face distinct challenges as do providers in rural or under-resourced areas. Legal uncertainty around data privacy and disadvantage further impacts usability and trust. The review highlights gaps in provider-focused qualitative research, the underrepresentation of low- and middle-income countries and the predominance of COVID-19 era studies which limit the evidence on the long-term usability of telemedicine. Future research must priorities co- designed, inclusive and provider-centred approaches to enhance telemedicine usability and ensure equitable digital care delivery