Doctors are cool with telehealth. As long as they can still get paid.
A new report commissioned by Anthem Inc. and the American Academy of Family Physicians finds that nearly 90 percent of U.S. physicians would use telehealth as long as they are compensated for video consultations and the many other new tech-enabled means of doctor-patient interaction aimed at making health care more efficient and accessible in the coming years.
The lack of established payment systems for telehealth, however, is a major barrier to its acceptance by medical professionals, the report says.
The survey of 1,557 family physicians found that roughly 15 percent are already incorporating telehealth into their practices.
It is particularly prolific in rural areas, where 29 percent of physicians reported telehealth use, compared to 11 percent in urban areas.
While internet access is more often a problem in rural America, the long distances between patients and doctors in some sparsely-populated areas creates a strong incentive for telehealth solutions.
In a finding that is even more intuitive, doctors who have been practicing for less than ten years (read: millennials) are also more likely to use telehealth.
Among those already using telehealth, the most common uses include diagnoses or treatment (55 percent), chronic disease management (26 percent), second opinions (20 percent), and emergency care (16 percent).
Those who opt for telehealth and those who don’t are similar in one regard: They both see promise in the technology.
Eighty-nine percent of those who already use telehealth say that it improves access to care for patients, while 77 percent of those who don’t agreed.
Both groups also agreed that patients would prefer to see a doctor face-to-face.
That opinion was voiced by 83 percent of telehealth users and 94 percent of non-users.
“The survey results proved to us that family physicians are open-minded and optimistic about the benefits of telehealth and that they are willing to use this technology provided they receive appropriate compensation,” said John Jesser, vice president of provider engagement for Anthem. “As telehealth gains momentum, more outcomes research and input on the quality, convenience and cost of telemedicine from a patient’s perspective will be needed.”
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