When the Hospital Moves into the Living Room
A new PhD thesis by Cæcilie Sloth Laursen from the IT University of Copenhagen examines how video consultations are changing interactions between patients and clinicians, and challenging the idea of seamless digital access to healthcare.
Researchdigitizationhealth
Written 8 July, 2026 15:54 by Niels Thrane
During the COVID-19 pandemic, video consultations became an integrated part of everyday life in the Danish healthcare system within just a few months. Consultations that had previously taken place in hospital outpatient clinics moved into patients’ living rooms, kitchens, and home offices. But what actually happens to clinical practice when the consultation moves from the hospital to the screen?
Cæcilie Sloth Laursen explores this question in her PhD thesis at the IT University of Copenhagen, ‘Welcome to the Virtual Waiting Room’: An Ethnographic Study of Hospital Video Consultations. Through ethnographic fieldwork in hospital outpatient clinics, patients’ homes, and online meetings, she followed the introduction of video consultations in Danish hospitals between 2020 and 2022.
The thesis shows that video consultations are far more than simply a technical solution. They fundamentally change the conditions of the clinical encounter, from the relationship between patient and clinician to our understanding of where treatment takes place and who carries out the work surrounding the consultation.
“Video consultations are often presented as a simple and effective solution. But when you follow them in practice, you begin to see how much coordination, adaptation, and work actually goes into making the consultation function,” says Cæcilie Sloth Laursen.
A Hybrid Treatment Space
One of the central contributions of the PhD thesis is the concept of the hybrid space. While the traditional consultation takes place in the controlled environment of the hospital, the video consultation connects different locations through technology. The hospital and the home become linked in a shared, yet fragmented, consultation space. This affects the atmosphere, communication, and clinical assessment.
Patients often participate more comfortably from home, but the consultation also becomes dependent on camera angles, internet connections, and the patient’s own digital skills. Clinicians must navigate what they are able to see – and what remains beyond the reach of the screen.
“In a face-to-face consultation, the hospital environment is designed for clinical work. During video consultations, the home suddenly becomes part of the treatment setting, and this changes the dynamics between patient and clinician,” Cæcilie explains.
The thesis also shows that video consultations not only reduce distance but also create new forms of it. Important physical and sensory information can be lost when the consultation takes place through a screen.
More Than Just Flexibility
Video consultations are often promoted in policy discussions as a way to increase flexibility and improve access to healthcare. Many patients find that video consultations save them travel time and are easier to fit into their daily lives. However, this flexibility is not equally accessible to everyone.
The thesis shows that digital consultations depend on access to technology, reliable internet connections, and the ability to navigate digital systems. At the same time, some of the responsibility for managing the practical aspects of the consultation shifts from the hospital to the patient.
“The digital consultation can give patients greater control over their time, but it also requires them to make the technology and practical arrangements work. Flexibility is therefore not simply something you receive; it is something that has to be created,” says Cæcilie Sloth Laursen.
The study therefore offers a more nuanced perspective on political visions of digitalisation as a frictionless path towards a more efficient healthcare system. It shows that digital solutions also create new forms of work, uncertainty, and inequality.
Although the thesis highlights a number of challenges, it also emphasises that video consultations can create value in many situations. In particular, both patients and clinicians find that video can be a meaningful alternative to in-person appointments for follow-up consultations. In some cases, video consultations even give clinicians access to insights that would not be visible in a hospital setting, such as the patient’s everyday environment or other members of the household. Patients can also show clinicians medications, dietary supplements, and food products.
“Video consultations are not simply about replicating a face-to-face consultation digitally. They create a different type of clinical encounter, with its own opportunities and limitations,” she says.
For Cæcilie Sloth Laursen, it is crucial that future digital healthcare solutions are developed with close attention to the practical contexts in which they are used, rather than driven solely by assumptions about technological efficiency. In other words, video consultations are not simply a matter of software and screens. They are also about relationships, everyday life, and the often invisible forms of work that keep the digital healthcare system running.
The PhD project was carried out in the Technologies in Practice research section at the IT University of Copenhagen and forms part of the research project Welfare after Digitalisation, which is funded by the VELUX FOUNDATION and the IT University of Copenhagen.
If you would like to read Cæcilie Sloth Laursen’s full PhD thesis, ‘Welcome to the Virtual Waiting Room’: An Ethnographic Study of Hospital Video Consultations, you can request a digital copy by contacting phdsupport@itu.dk. Several of her research articles are also available here.
Jari Kickbusch, phone 7218 5304, email jark@itu.dk