Only
20 percent of patients think telehealth could promote better access to care and
alleviate primary care access burdens.
By Sara Heath
October 09,
2019 - Patients may need more information about telehealth and how it
can improve access to care and alleviate some of the barriers that keep
patients out of the primary care office, according to new data from Doctor on Demand.
The survey of 1,000
patient respondents revealed that most patients understand the importance of
primary care access. Seventy percent of patients said they knew the integral
role primary care providers play in patient health and acknowledged that
primary care providers treat a wide scope of health needs, including chronic
disease, stress, and anxiety.
Eighty-five percent
of patient respondents said they knew that their primary care providers had
a holistic view of patient health.
Nonetheless, more
than 25 percent of patients said they do not visit their primary care provider
for ongoing or preventive care. Instead, nearly 80 percent said they only go to
the doctor when they have an acute care need.
Patients are likely
staying away from the primary care provider, at least for preventive care,
because it’s too cumbersome, the researchers said. Patients said they do not
have the time to make an appointment, to travel to the doctor’s office, and
wait for the appointment to begin.
Respondents likewise
said cost was a significant burden that impeded patient care access. Others
said preventive care visits were not worth the investment.
Telehealth could make
primary care access easier by connecting patients with primary care providers
in the comfort of patients’ own homes. Telehealth, which can in some cases be
more convenient and less costly for patients, could be the solution to limited
primary care access.
But that isn’t likely
to happen, at least not until more patients learn about what telehealth can
offer. Only 20 percent of patients said they believed telehealth visits could
improve access to primary care.
Instead, more than 60
percent of patients said they believed telehealth was only for quick, one-off
treatment for acute care needs. Some patients even said they thought virtual
care simply constituted speaking with their doctors over the telephone, something
many respondents did not regard as valuable.
Another 62 percent of
respondents said they weren’t sure if their payers covered virtual visits,
highlighting a communication pitfall between patient and payer.
The cause is not
necessarily lost, the survey continued. While 70 percent of patients questioned
the depth of a patient-provider relationship built via text message, 60 percent
did agree that they could build meaningful relationships with their providers
via video visit.
Additionally, 60
percent of patients said they would consider using telehealth if their payers
covered the service.
Helping patients to
understand the benefits of telehealth and to navigate the virtual visits space
could help promote patient access to care, experts agree.
Separate survey data from the National Poll on
Healthy Aging revealed similar findings, suggesting that promoting telehealth
patient education could motivate more senior patients to use the tool.
Nearly 80 percent of
patients ages 50 to 80 harbor at least one concern about telehealth access,
revealing to medical professionals that patients may need more education about
the technology.
“As telehealth finally
appears poised to live up to its potential, with insurance reimbursement in
place or set to begin soon under many plans, and providers increasingly
investing in systems, these poll data show a need to focus on the patient
side,” says Jacob Kurlander, MD, MS, a U-M and VA Ann Arbor
Healthcare System gastroenterology specialist and telehealth researcher who
helped lead the poll. “As the industry moves forward, we should heed the
concerns and preferences of our patients, especially those over age 50, who use
the most health care.”
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