Consumers Want Their Doctors To Offer Video Visits

A new survey by telemedicine provider American Well has concluded that many consumers are becoming interested in video visits, and that some of consumers would be willing to switch doctors to get video visits as part of their care. Of course, given that American Well provides video visits this is a self-interested conclusion, but my gut feeling is that it’s on target nonetheless.

According to the research, 72% of parents with children under 18 were willing to see a doctor via video, as well as 72% of consumers aged 45-54 and 53% of those over age 65. Americal Well’s study also suggests that the respondents see video visits as more effective than in-person consults, with 85% reporting that a video visit resolved their issues, as compared with 64% of those seeing a doctor in a brick-and-mortar setting.

In addition, respondents said they want their existing doctors to get on board. Of those with a PCP, 65% were very or somewhat interested in conducting video visits with their PCP.  Meanwhile, 20% of consumers said they would switch doctors to get access to video visits, a number which rises to 26% among those aged 18 to 34, 30% for those aged 35 to 44 and and 34% for parents of children under age 18.

In addition to getting acute consults via video visit, 60% of respondents said that they would be willing to use them to manage a chronic condition, and 52% of adults reported that they were willing to participate in post-surgical or post-hospital-discharge visits through video.

Consumers also seemed to see video visits as a useful way to help them care for ill or aging family members. American Well found that 79% of such caregivers would find this approach helpful.

Meanwhile, large numbers of respondents seemed interested in using video visits to handle routine chronic care. The survey found that 78% of those willing to have a video visit with a doctor would be happy to manage chronic conditions via video consults with their PCP.

What the researchers draw from all of this is that it’s time for providers to start marketing video visit capabilities. Americal Well argues that by promoting these capabilities, providers can bring new patients into their systems, divert patients away from the ED and into higher-satisfaction options and improve their management of chronic conditions by making it easier for patients to stay in touch.

Ultimately, of course, providers will need to integrate video into the rest of their workflow if this channel is to mature fully. And providers will need to make sure their video visits meet the same standards as other patient interactions, including HIPAA-compliant security for the content, notes Dr. Sherry Benton of TAO Connect. Providers will also need to figure out whether the video is part of the official medical record, and if so, how they will share copies if the patient request them. But there are ways to address these issues, so they shouldn’t prevent providers from jumping in with both feet.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

   

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