Table 1

Overview of data structure and planned analysis

Data source	Type and nature of data	First-order interpretation	Higher order categories
Descriptive and demographic data on the video consultation service in two settings (diabetes, cancer)	Number of patients offered video option and proportion who accept and persist with it Start and finish time ‘DNA’ (did not attend) rate for video and face-to-face options Unscheduled encounters (eg, A&E) for index condition	Acceptability/popularity of the service Demographic data for example, uptake by age Failed encounter rate Risk of missing serious problems (estimate) Consultation length	Background and context to the multilevel qualitative analysis Could inform economic modelling for future service and/or a future cost-effectiveness study
Microlevel study of 45 clinical consultations (30 diabetes, 15 cancer)	Video recording and screen capture (patient end) Video recording and screen capture (clinician end) Researcher field notes from before/after the consultation, at patient and clinician end	What is said and done in the consultation Unfolding interaction How technology shapes and constrains the consultation How participants felt	External social structures such as Political and economic context Professional standards and definitions of excellence Symbolic meaning of illness Internal social structures (what actors ‘know’ and how they interpret the strategic terrain) ‘Scripts’ held by patients and staff of how they should behave and how they change over time Skills and techniques for using the technology, how these change Assumptions built into technology About capabilities of users About how people interact About privacy and consent Interplay between these factors
Mesolevel study of the sociotechnical microsystem in each setting	People and technologies involved in delivering the virtual consultation Diagrams and accounts of how these relate and interact	Key interactions and interdependencies Key organisational routines and how these are changing over time
Macrolevel study of wider context for introducing video consulting	Perspective of national stakeholders Documents supplied by these	Historical and policy drivers for the move to virtual consultations

A&E, accident and emergency.