The Temporal Dimension of Copresence in Medical Practice: The Case of Telestroke

This paper examines how co-presence is enacted in technology-mediated medical practices, particularly under time pressure. Extant literature highlights time (e.g. immediacy and duration of interactions) as a critical condition for copresence, but there has been little attention to the variation of copresence over time. In this paper, we investigate this variation through an ethnographic study in three emergency departments that are linked via a telemedicine system called Telestroke, which is used to diagnose and treat stroke patients at a distance. We draw on the sensemaking literature to uncover how copresence is enacted across different phases of technology-mediated medical practice. Our findings reveal four mechanisms that shape the variation of copresence across time, namely extracting cues, retrospection, perspective-taking, and selective attention."