Female, primary care and behavior specialists were more likely to implement virtual care early on during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with male and surgical specialty physicians, a Dec. 30 study published in JAMA Network Open found.
The researchers looked at 3,473 physicians at Boston-based Mass General Brigham, a health system comprising outpatient practice sites and 12 hospitals, who conducted at least one virtual or in-person visit between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
Using a database to identify physicians' age, gender and specialty, the study found that 64 percent of primary care physicians and 41 percent of behavioral health specialists adopted virtual care during the first week of the pandemic.
The study also found that 51.2 percent of female physicians adopted virtual care early on, compared with 40.5 percent of male physicians.