More than one-quarter (28 percent) of parents don't opt into telehealth services for their children because their provider has never offered it to them, according to a recent survey.
For the analysis, Nemours Children's Health System teamed up with Amwell to study telehealth opinions and behaviors of U.S. families, according to a July 28 news release. The survey included more than 2,000 adults who are parents or guardians of children under 18 years old. Responses were collected from March 19-31, 2021.
Four survey insights:
1. Most parents (61 percent) said they are more willing to use telehealth now than before the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes 29 percent of parents who previously never used telehealth.
2. Families facing challenges such as food or transportation insecurities were more likely to use telehealth during the pandemic than parents who did not deal with these challenges.
3. Moving forward, 37 percent of parents who experience social determinants of health challenges said they will be likely to engage in ongoing, frequent telehealth visits compared to 14 percent of parents who don't experience social determinants of health challenges.
4. While 28 percent of parents said they never used telehealth because it was never offered by their provider, 12 percent of respondents said they have never even heard of telehealth.