Patients' and Healthcare Professionals' Experiences of Patient-Centeredness in Digital Care: A Qualitative Systematic Review.

Abstract

Patient-centeredness is considered a key component of efficient, high-quality healthcare services. As digital care is becoming an established part of healthcare systems, there is a need to explore patients' and professionals' experiences of patient-centeredness in digital care. To synthesise the existing qualitative evidence on patients' and healthcare professionals' experiences of patient-centeredness in digital care. This was a systematic review of qualitative evidence conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for qualitative systematic reviews. Reporting followed the PRISMA checklist. A systematic search was performed on Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL and the Finnish database Medic in October 2023 and updated in April 2026. Eligible studies were qualitative and reported adult patients' or healthcare professionals' experiences of patient-centredness in digital care across healthcare settings. Data were synthesised using thematic synthesis. Following duplicate removal, 5682 records were identified through database searches, and 30 reports fulfilled the inclusion criteria for this review. Based on thematic synthesis, seven analytical themes were constructed: (1) enabling patients' ownership of their condition, (2) supporting patients' sense of safety and continuity, (3) rebuilding the patient-professional relationship, (4) influencing equality in digital care and (5) increasing the versatility of professionals and organisations. The findings suggest that digital care influences patient-centeredness in multiple ways. Patients and professionals describe digital care as offering new ways to enhance patient-centeredness, for instance, by providing support to patients in new ways and increasing patient participation. Both patients' and professionals' roles are described as changing in digital care, with patients becoming more actively involved in taking responsibility for their health and professionals enabling this by integrating their expertise with patients'. Technology and the physical distance of digital care were described as posing challenges to the patient-professional relationship, while technology-based support was described as enhancing patients' sense of safety.