Self-Service Tools for Care Access Key to Post-Pandemic Future

The digital front door technologies that helped support the medical industry during the pandemic will continue to foster convenient care access after the crisis abates, the survey data showed.

Clinics may also consider tapping the technologies that have helped support them and their patients until now. Around one in five patients utilized a mix of both in-person and telehealth options for routine, specialty, and mental healthcare.

That can guide organizations moving forward. Although the vast majority of patients foremost want to get any type of medical care—routine, specialty, or mental health—in an in-person setting, there is strong support for a hybrid model of care. About one in five patients want to continue seeing all of their care providers via both telehealth and in-person modalities, the survey showed. Far fewer favored telehealth-only approaches.