How do doctors feel about telemedicine?

Barriers may still exist to the use of telehealth in medical practices, but that could change—and one reason it could change drastically is burnout.

Not yours—your doctor’s.

According to a survey from the American College of Physicians, there are still obstacles to the implementation of telehealth by practices with internal medicine physicians and subspecialists. The most common: reimbursement, licensing, and regulatory barriers. And less common, but still important: not only are some physicians find it difficult to integrate the service into their day, they also are worried that patients may lack access to the necessary technology.

Related: 2019: The year of telehealth?

In fact, just because a practice has the technology doesn’t mean it’s actually used—or used to its full potential. Technology for remote care management is less available, at 24 percent, than what’s needed for e-consults (33 percent of practices have it), as is the tech for video visits (just 18 percent have it). But those with the technology for those e-consults have a high usage rate; 63 percent use it weekly.

And among those with the technology, only 19 percent use video visits each week, while 50 percent do use remote care management each week.

Lots of doctors would like to learn more about available technology solutions, according to the study, with 55 percent of those with no technologies implemented and 51 percent of those with some implementations expressing interest.

But here’s where it gets interesting: a new survey from American Well reveals that not only are doctors interested in the potential of technology to improve patient access to care, improve patient outcomes and attract and retain patients, they’re also interested in it on their own behalf. Specialists the most willing to practice via telehealth, in particular are also among the most burnt out. (They are also among the least likely to have used it.)

The top specialties willing to practice via telehealth, says the report, include urology, emergency medicine, infectious disease, psychiatry, pediatrics, oncology and neurology.

The good news about telehealth adoption, according to the survey, is that it’s being adopted “much faster than … EHRs at a similar stage of market development,” Dr. Sylvia Romm, vice president of clinical transformation at American Well, says in a statement.

Romm adds, “Physicians’ increased willingness to see patients over video, in addition to the increasing physician shortage, high burnout rates and a more favorable reimbursement landscape, signals a boom in virtual visits over the next several years.”

Read more: 

• Employers want telemedicine but employees still unsure
• 6 ways to increase telehealth adoption
• CMS expands telehealth access for Medicare Advantage enrollees