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The future increase of chronic diseases in the world requires new challenges in the health domain to improve patients' care from the point of view of the organizational processes, clinical pathways and technological solutions of digital health. For this reason, the present paper aims to focus on the study and application of well-known clinical practices and efficient organizational approaches through an innovative model (TALIsMAn) to support new care process redesign and digitalization for chronic patients.

In addition to specific clinical models employed to manage chronic conditions such as the Population Health Management and Chronic Care Model, we introduce a Business Process Management methodology implementation supported by a set of e-health technologies, in order to manage Care Pathways (CPs) digitalization and procedures improvement.

This study shows that telemedicine services with advanced devices and technologies are not enough to provide significant changes in the healthcare sector if other key aspects such as health processes, organizational systems, interactions between actors and responsibilities are not considered and improved. Therefore, new clinical models and organizational approaches are necessary together with a deep technological change, otherwise, theoretical benefits given by telemedicine services, which often employ advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems and devices, may not be translated into effective enhancements. They are obtained not only through the implementation of single telemedicine services, but integrating them in a wider digital ecosystem, where clinicians are supported in different clinical steps they have to perform.

The present work defines a novel methodological framework based on organizational, clinical and technological innovation, in order to redesign the territorial care for people with chronic diseases. This innovative ecosystem applied in the Italian research project TALIsMAn is based on the concept of a continuum of care and digitalization of CPs supported by Business Process Management System and telemedicine services. The main goal is to organize the different socio-medical activities in a unique and integrated IT system that should be sustainable, scalable and replicable.

This paper aims to explore how an academic researcher and a practitioner experience scepticism for their qualitative research.

The study applies Olt and Teman's new conceptual phenomenological polyethnography (2019) methodology, a hybrid of phenomenology and duoethnography.

For the researcher-participants, the essence of living with scepticism means feeling a sense of injustice; struggling with the desire for simplicity and quantification; being in a circle of uneasiness; having a survival mechanism; and embracing healthy scepticism. They experience the essence differently and similarly in varied cultural contexts. Through duoethnographic conversations, they acknowledge that while there can be scepticism of their work, it is important to remain sceptical, persistent and curious by challenging traditional concepts. Theoretical and practical advances in artificial intelligence (AI) continue to highlight the need for clarifying qualitative researcher roles in academia and practice.

This paper contributes to the debate of qualitative versus quantitative research. Its originality is in exploring scepticism as lived experience, from an academic and practitioner perspective and applying a phenomenological polyethnography approach that blends two different traditional research paradigms.