While hospitals and healthcare systems are expanding their telehealth offerings, nearly eight in 10 patients do not know how to access these services or whether their insurer will cover them, according to an Avizia-sponsored survey.
The telehealth company asked 403 adults and 444 providers about their telehealth understanding and usage for its "2017 Closing the Telehealth Gap" whitepaper.
Here are five survey insights.
1. Eighteen percent of respondents said they used telehealth, but 82 percent said they had not.
2. Only 62 percent of respondents would rate their experience with telehealth "great," rating their experience an eight, nine or 10 on a scale of one to 10 in which 10 signifies a "great experience."
3. Respondents who used telehealth said they enjoyed its time savings and convenience (59 percent), faster service and shorter wait times (55 percent) and cost savings due to less travel (43 percent).
4. Providers are most interested in telehealth's ability to expand access or reach to patients (72 percent), but said reimbursement was a barrier to implementation (41 percent), followed by program cost (40 percent) and clinician resistance (22 percent).
5. Providers report stroke and neurology (72 percent) as the No. 1 use case for telehealth, followed by behavioral health (41 percent) and intensive care (20 percent).
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