biostudies-literatureUnknown14Jackson TM<h4>Background</h4>Virtual hospitals are defined as the delivery of hospital-level health care via digital services such as videoconferencing technologies, digital platforms, and remote monitoring. The purpose is to leverage virtual technologies to deliver accessible patient-centered care, improve the overall health of communities, and implement improvements driven by real-time access to patient data. Patients and their caregivers have increasingly favored these alternative and complementary service delivery models alongside traditional in-person care. However, this is still a complex issue, and the current literature points to a variety of challenges that need to be overcome to provide optimal models of care.<h4>Objective</h4>This study aims to identify unique challenges to virtual hospitals providing multidisciplinary care for patients at home, and co-design recommendations to improve the patient experience.<h4>Methods</h4>This research is a mixed methods exploratory case study of a virtual hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The methods include (1) document analysis: this will be used to identify the current formal processes that govern the virtual hospital; (2) secondary analysis of data: a detailed investigation of existing data collected by the virtual hospital, for example, patient-reported experience measures, patient-reported outcome measures, and other available data; (3) observations of current practices; (4) semistructured interviews; (5) co-designed focus groups; (6) economic analysis; (7) comparative case study; and finally, (8) a triangulation analysis. To synthesize these findings within a unified analytical framework, all data will be subjected to open or axial coding following the Strauss framework, allowing the convergence of themes across codes and methods.<h4>Results</h4>As of April 2025, observations and initial documentation analysis have begun. Multidisciplinary team meetings and clinician shadowing have commenced, along with analysis of Standards of Practice documents.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This protocol outlines a mixed methods case study on a new virtual hospital located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. We anticipate our results to provide a comprehensive understanding of patient experience through a range of quantitative and qualitative research activities. We will achieve this by identifying challenges for patients, carers, and health care workers, and documenting informal solutions discovered through our research activities.<h4>International registered report identifier (irrid)</h4>DERR1-10.2196/72729.JMIR research protocolse72729https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12397751biostudies-literaturePatient Experience of Virtual Hospital Care Provided by a Multidisciplinary Team: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.PMC12397751Rana RJackson TMWard KChen MChung MCoiera ELi WLevy JOffner KYu CSomi SSingh SLau AAfalsePatient Experience of Virtual Hospital Care Provided by a Multidisciplinary Team: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.<h4>Background</h4>Virtual hospitals are defined as the delivery of hospital-level health care via digital services such as videoconferencing technologies, digital platforms, and remote monitoring. The purpose is to leverage virtual technologies to deliver accessible patient-centered care, improve the overall health of communities, and implement improvements driven by real-time access to patient data. Patients and their caregivers have increasingly favored these alternative and complementary service delivery models alongside traditional in-person care. However, this is still a complex issue, and the current literature points to a variety of challenges that need to be overcome to provide optimal models of care.<h4>Objective</h4>This study aims to identify unique challenges to virtual hospitals providing multidisciplinary care for patients at home, and co-design recommendations to improve the patient experience.<h4>Methods</h4>This research is a mixed methods exploratory case study of a virtual hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The methods include (1) document analysis: this will be used to identify the current formal processes that govern the virtual hospital; (2) secondary analysis of data: a detailed investigation of existing data collected by the virtual hospital, for example, patient-reported experience measures, patient-reported outcome measures, and other available data; (3) observations of current practices; (4) semistructured interviews; (5) co-designed focus groups; (6) economic analysis; (7) comparative case study; and finally, (8) a triangulation analysis. To synthesize these findings within a unified analytical framework, all data will be subjected to open or axial coding following the Strauss framework, allowing the convergence of themes across codes and methods.<h4>Results</h4>As of April 2025, observations and initial documentation analysis have begun. Multidisciplinary team meetings and clinician shadowing have commenced, along with analysis of Standards of Practice documents.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This protocol outlines a mixed methods case study on a new virtual hospital located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. We anticipate our results to provide a comprehensive understanding of patient experience through a range of quantitative and qualitative research activities. We will achieve this by identifying challenges for patients, carers, and health care workers, and documenting informal solutions discovered through our research activities.<h4>International registered report identifier (irrid)</h4>DERR1-10.2196/72729.2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Aug2026-05-28T22:19:03.392Z2026-04-08T03:16:08.349ZS-EPMC123977514081582410.2196/72729