Patient Satisfaction With Live Video Dips From Pandemic High

Though live video was the most-used telehealth modality in 2021, satisfaction levels with this type of visit fell — from 53 percent of Americans saying they were more satisfied with live video than previous in-person interactions in 2020 to 43 percent saying the same this year, according to Rock Health's Digital Health Consumer Adoption Survey.

The survey, prepared in collaboration with the Stanford Center of Digital Health, polled about 8,000 U.S. adults in both 2020 and 2021 between summer and fall.

This year's survey shows that consumers changed the way they used video visits, which could be one of the reasons satisfaction with live video visits declined. Survey respondents said they used live video calls mostly for a minor illness (32 percent), a medical emergency (20 percent) and chronic conditions (18 percent). In 2020, medical emergencies topped the list of reasons why consumers accessed live video calls.

Though live video visits experienced a dip in patient satisfaction, other telehealth modalities fared better. Satisfaction with live phone calls jumped from 30 percent in 2020 to 33 percent in 2021, while satisfaction with asynchronous telehealth services leveraging pictures and videos grew from 41 percent last year to 54 percent this year.

Consumer preferences regarding telehealth modalities also varied by condition, according to the report. For example, 41 percent of survey respondents said they preferred live video visits when they needed treatment for influenza or a cold as opposed to annual checkups, for which a vast majority of respondents (66 percent) said they preferred going into the doctor's office.

These findings highlight that consumer preferences related to telehealth are nuanced.

"Our hope is innovators will continue to build with and alongside specific populations with unique and distinct care needs, bucking a one-size-fits-all approach," report authors wrote.

Consumer preference is just one consideration for telehealth providers moving forward. The other — and perhaps more pressing issue — is access.

Telehealth access is still stratified by socioeconomic factors, according to the survey. In line with previous years, high-income earners and younger people were most likely to opt for telehealth visits in 2021.

But this year did see some changes in the demographics of the most common telehealth users. Non-white respondents were significantly more likely to use telemedicine than those who identified as white-only, with 79 percent of Black, 78 percent of Asian, 73 percent of Hispanic, 87 percent of Hawaiian Native and/or Pacific Islander, and 79 percent of American Indian and/or Alaska Native respondents saying they accessed telehealth in 2021, as compared with 70 percent of white respondents.

Another important, though unsurprising finding, is that the urban-rural divide persists, with 80 percent of urban respondents saying they used telehealth this year versus 72 percent of suburban and 60 percent of rural respondents.

In fact, rural respondents' telehealth adoption remained largely stagnant from 2020 to 2021, the survey shows. In both years, about 40 percent of rural respondents said they did not use telehealth.

Lack of access through their primary care providers and poor internet connectivity could explain the lower usage rates among rural residents.

Seventy-two percent of rural respondents reported their primary care physicians offered telemedicine this year, compared with 80 percent of suburban and 86 percent of urban respondents.

Further, 9 percent of rural respondents reported poor cellular or broadband connectivity as a barrier to using telehealth compared to 4 percent of non-rural respondents.

Though telehealth is expected to remain a popular mode of care delivery, this report makes clear that providers will need to consider which populations are being locked out of virtual care, in addition to keeping an eye on consumer preferences.

"We expect virtual-first care models to proliferate, with novel and varied uses of all telemedicine modalities. This untethering from the live video visit will enable models that are more scalable, cost-effective, accessible, and ultimately, more equitable," the report authors wrote.