Survey: Consumers Prefer Telehealth Over In-office Visits for Routine Care, Medication Refills & Behavioral Health

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Sep 28, 2023, 08:00 ET

Favorite aspects are time savings and quick access to care

CHICAGO, Sept. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers continue to express a strong preference for telehealth over in-office care for several types of visits, according to a recent survey from KeyCare, the nation's first Epic-based virtual care company. For example, 45% of consumers stated they prefer telehealth for minor but urgent issues, while 18% had no preference between telehealth and office visits, and only 37% actually preferred going into the office. Consumers also reported a preference for telehealth over office visits for medication refills and test results (73% vs. 16%), and behavioral health needs (43% vs. 31%).

These results are consistent with a November 2022 KeyCare-sponsored survey that found 41% of consumers preferred telehealth over in-office visits for minor but urgent issues. In the recent survey of 400 consumers, the majority (69%) reported participating in multiple telehealth visits over the prior year and shared that their favorite aspects of telehealth are time savings (54%), quick access to care (38%), and cost savings (8%).

Consumers also reported that over the last year, they received telehealth services for the following types of issues:

Medication refills, test results or similar routine care or follow-up issues (28%)
Care for an urgent but minor issue, such as the flu, COVID, a rash, or urinary tract infection (25%)
Behavioral/mental health issues (17%)
Management of an ongoing, well-controlled chronic condition, such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity (15%)
Specialty care (e.g., cardiology, endocrinology, rheumatology) (9%)
Pre- or post-surgery care (5%)

Additionally, 84% of consumers reported seeing their own regular doctor or an associate of that doctor for telehealth, while 78% said that their virtual provider had access to their long-term medical records during the visit.

"Consumers clearly value the advantages of telehealth for routine care, especially when provided by someone who can share records with their primary doctor," said Lyle Berkowitz, MD, CEO of KeyCare. "This survey underscores how important it is that health systems provide their patients with a seamless virtual care experience that offers robust data-sharing between providers."

KeyCare offers health systems the ability to easily augment their care teams, optimize capacity, and widen their digital front doors by partnering with a nationwide network of virtual care providers working on its Epic platform, which easily and safely connects to other Epic-based health systems.

To learn more about KeyCare's virtual care option, contact us at [email protected] or visit us at the Becker's Health IT + Digital Health + RCM Annual Meeting, October 3rd – 6^th in Chicago, Booth 514.

About KeyCare
KeyCare offers health systems access to a network of virtual care providers working on KeyCare's Epic-based EMR and telehealth platform. This allows KeyCare to improve access for patients across the United States, while keeping their care coordinated with their health system partners. Health systems can start with 24x7, 50-state virtual urgent care coverage, and then may add other virtual health services based on their needs. To learn more about KeyCare, visit www.keycare.org.

Media Contact KeyCare

Grace Vinton

203-561-8935

[email protected]

SOURCE KeyCare