Thirty-one percent of physicians across the U.S. have experienced challenges with developing an online personality when using telehealth at their practices, according to a recent Sage Growth Partners report.
For the Exploring Physicians' Perspectives on how COVID-19 Changes Care report, Sage Growth Partners surveyed 4,380 physicians between May 28 and June 3 about their current telehealth uses.
The participants are physicians practicing in primary care, behavioral health, medical and surgical specialties. At the time of the survey, almost two-thirds of primary care, behavioral health and medical specialty physicians said they were providing telehealth services, compared to 24 percent of surgical specialties.
Developing a "webside manner", or the virtual equivalent to a clinician's bedside manner, is one of the top issues physicians have had practicing telehealth. Here are some of the other top challenges they have cited:
- Maintaining and explaining patient privacy: 82 percent
- Seeing new patients: 79 percent
- Cybercrime vulnerabilities: 75 percent
- Need for increased insurance: 62 percent
- Established patients, complex care: 54 percent
- Inability to examine patients fully: 48 percent
- Time management on appointments: 47 percent
- Developing an online personality/webside manner: 31 percent
- Lack of patient preparation for the visit: 26 percent