AMA: 69% of Physicians Use Audio-Only Telehealth

More than two-thirds of telehealth providers said they use audio-only modalities to offer telehealth services, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Medical Association.

The survey polled 2,232 physicians between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.

The popularity of telehealth among physicians is apparent, with 85 percent saying they still use it. But 52 percent agreed that their telehealth usage has decreased since they first started offering the services. The top reason for the decrease was that they moved to a hybrid model of care with both in-person and virtual care services.

Nearly half of the respondents (46.8 percent) said they conduct 1 percent to 20 percent of their patient visits via telehealth each week. On the other end of the spectrum, 21.3 percent of respondents said they conduct more than 80 percent of their visits virtually every week.

Though the number of telehealth modalities is growing, physicians are partial to live interactive audio-visual platforms, with 93 percent of survey respondents indicating that they use this modality. Audio-only phone-based telehealth is also popular, with 69 percent of respondents saying they used this technology for virtual care, followed by asynchronous telehealth, a distant third with only 12 percent of physicians saying they used asynchronous platforms.

In terms of clinical care processes, physicians are primarily using telehealth to provide treatment or therapy (77 percent), screenings (72 percent), or follow-up care (70 percent). With respect to services, telehealth is most commonly employed for medical management, like medication management (72 percent), chronic disease management (68 percent), and specialty care (49 percent). Behavioral health comes in fourth on the list, with 44 percent of physicians saying they use telehealth to provide mental healthcare.

Most physicians (54 percent) agree that telehealth increased their professional satisfaction, and 62 percent believe it has helped boost patient satisfaction. A vast majority of respondents said they measure telehealth's value via patient satisfaction and access to care. Only 233 out of 1,558 said that they are measuring value through the lens of health equity.  

The digital divide remains the No. 1 barrier to telehealth access for patients. Limited patient access to technology, limited digital literacy in patient mix, and limited patient access to broadband internet were the top three barriers cited by physicians.

On the provider side, the top hurdles to telehealth adoption include the potential rollback of COVID-19 waivers, coverage, and payment policies, lack of insurer coverage, and low or no reimbursement.

Despite these challenges, nearly 60 percent of physicians agreed or strongly agreed that telehealth enabled them to provide more comprehensive quality care.

"Physicians view telehealth as providing quality care to their patients, and policymakers and payers have come to the same conclusion. Patients will benefit immensely from this new era of improved access to care," said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD, in the press release. "This survey shows adoption of the technology is widespread, as is the demand for continued access. It is critical that Congress takes action and makes permanent telehealth access for Medicare patients."

President Joe Biden recently signed into law an omnibus spending package that extended temporary telehealth waivers enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic for Medicare beneficiaries for at least five months after the public health emergency officially expires. This includes Medicare coverage of audio-only telehealth services.

Research shows that audio-only telehealth helps expand telehealth access to underserved populations, including those that rely on safety-net facilities for care and older and Black populations.