Digital Health Tools Are Perceived as an Advantage to 93% of Physicians

Between 2016 and 2022, the AMA surveyed approximately 1,300 providers in the United States for AMA Digital Health Research. This data collected information on motivations and requirements for digital health tools and their integration. The study found that in 2016 approximately 85% of physicians perceived digital health tools as advantageous. Since then, that number has increased by 8% to 93%.

In addition to analyzing physician perceptions about digital health tools, the research also found that in 2016 physicians used an average of 2.2 digital health tools. By 2022, that number grew to 3.8.

Digital health tools were essential during the early days of the COVID pandemic when seeing a provider was not necessarily safe. This likely contributed to the increased use of telehealth visits highlighted in this press release.

According to the AMA press release, “the percentage of physicians using tele-visits/virtual visits grew from 14% in 2016 to 80% in 2022 while the percentage of physicians using remote monitoring devices grew from 12% in 2016 to 30% in 2022.”

That said, telehealth visits yielded some of the most enthusiastic responses from physicians. Right behind telehealth are remote monitoring devices such as continuous glucose monitors. These devices allow clinicians to monitor patients being treated for chronic conditions effectively.

Currently, only 20% of clinicians use augmented intelligence in their current practices. Looking forward, 40% of physicians plan to incorporate augmented intelligence the following year.

“The physician adoption rate of digital health tools has accelerated as physicians grow increasingly optimistic about the advantages that properly designed digital health tools can have for patient care if key requirements are met,” said AMA President Jack Resneck Jr., MD, in the AMA press release. “The AMA survey illustrates the importance physicians place on validated digital health tools that improve health while streamlining the technological and administrative burdens faced each day in medicine. These technologies also must be designed and deployed in ways that advance health equity.”