Is Physician Adoption of Telehealth at an Inflection Point?

A survey of 800 U.S. physicians reveals that physician adoption of telehealth has increased significantly, though for most specialties, barriers to adoption do still exist.

The survey, from telehealth company American Well, found that physician telehealth adoption is at an inflection point. This shift in readiness is driven by physicians’ desire to improve patient access to care, improve patient outcomes and attract and retain patients. Coupled with a more promising reimbursement landscape and health systems’ vision to expand telehealth use, this shift in provider expectations around telehealth is set to fuel significant growth in the sector, according to the researchers.

Specifically, a total of 22 percent of physicians said they have used telehealth to see patients, up 340 percent from 2015 when only 5 percent of physicians reported having ever used telehealth. Moreover, a total of 69 percent of physicians said they would be willing to use telehealth, up 12 percentage points, from 57 percent in 2015.

Newer physicians (aged 25 to 34) said they were somewhat less willing to use telehealth compared to other young physicians (aged 35 to 44), possibly because these physicians are still learning their craft and thus less confident about new technology, the researchers speculated.