Keyword: Patient-Centered Care

ABSTRACT: Telemedicine has transformed healthcare delivery by expanding access to digitally mediated clinical services; however, growing dependence on virtual healthcare systems has intensified concerns regarding communication quality, patient trust, and equitable healthcare participation. Communication remains a central determinant of healthcare effectiveness because it influences diagnostic accuracy, treatment adherence, patient satisfaction, continuity of care, and therapeutic trust. Despite rapid technological advancement, many telemedicine systems remain insufficiently equipped to support inclusive, empathetic, and patient-centered communication across diverse patient populations. This critical narrative review synthesized current evidence on communication barriers in telemedicine and examined their implications for healthcare quality and equity. Literature was identified through searches conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using terms related to telemedicine communication, digital healthcare barriers, patient-centered virtual care, digital trust, and healthcare inequity. The review included empirical studies, reviews, and policy papers published between 2015 and 2026. Thematic synthesis and systems-level analysis were applied using a patient-centered care lens. The findings indicate that communication barriers in telemedicine extend beyond technological limitations and include digital exclusion, low digital literacy, linguistic and cultural mismatch, disability-related accessibility challenges, weakened relational interaction, fragmented healthcare coordination, and emerging AI-mediated communication risks. Collectively, these barriers contribute to reduced patient engagement, trust erosion, diagnostic misunderstanding, lower treatment adherence, and unequal healthcare outcomes, particularly among vulnerable populations. In response, this review proposes the Integrated Patient-Centered Digital Communication Framework (IPCDCF), which integrates technological inclusivity, empathy-focused communication, equity-centered accessibility, ethical AI governance, and coordinated healthcare systems. Strengthening communication quality within telemedicine is essential for developing equitable, trustworthy, and patient-centered digital healthcare ecosystems.