“It wasn’t just a robot”: Women’s and providers’ experiences with telerobotic ultrasound in rural prenatal care
Amal Khan, Reanna Prychak, Brent Burbridge, Ivar MendezBackground
Women living in rural and remote communities face longstanding barriers to accessing prenatal diagnostic care, including long travel distances, limited appointment availability, and delayed diagnostic evaluation. Telerobotic ultrasound may improve prenatal care by expanding access through imaging in local communities. However, little is known about women’s lived experiences with this technology and providers’ perspectives on cultural safety within prenatal care.
Objectives
To explore women’s and providers’ experiences and perceptions of telerobotic ultrasound in prenatal care.
Design
Qualitatively driven mixed-methods study.
Methods
Postpartum women with experience using or declining telerobotic ultrasound, along with providers involved in service delivery in Gravelbourg and Saskatoon, participated in semi-structured remote interviews and were offered nine-point Likert-scale surveys. Discussion topics included decision-making, cultural and linguistic considerations, and integration of telerobotic imaging into rural care. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using inductive coding, constant comparison, and framework-informed interpretation in NVivo 15.
Results
A total of 40 participants took part in the study, including 19 patient participants and 21 provider participants, all of whom completed interviews. Survey findings, based on 7 sufficiently complete patient surveys and 10 provider surveys returned within the data-collection period, supplemented the qualitative findings. Participants reported improved access to prenatal care, particularly through reduced travel and local service availability. However, limited awareness, inconsistent communication, and gaps in knowledge were identified as key barriers to uptake. Participants also highlighted challenges related to cultural and linguistic accommodation and reliance on technological infrastructure. Cultural and linguistic aspects were often characterized by uncertainty, with many patients reporting neutral views on cultural sensitivity and language accessibility. Patients expressed mixed levels of trust and information sufficiency, while providers reported confidence in image quality and workflow integration but identified gaps in language accessibility and patient preparedness.
Conclusion
Telerobotic ultrasound in prenatal diagnostic care was perceived as acceptable and potentially beneficial for improving access, but attention to cultural safety, communication, workflow alignment, and reliable technical support will be important when expanding service delivery.