Medication management, follow-ups top telehealth use cases

A majority of physicians and patients agree that telehealth has improved healthcare access, with both groups citing medication management and follow-up visits as the most common reasons for using virtual care applications in a new survey.

Conducted by digital platform provider Doximity in August and October 2024, the survey polled 1,171 U.S. physicians across 10 specialties, 131 nurse practitioners and 2,400 adults.

The physician survey results reveal ongoing utilization of telehealth, with 77% of physician respondents saying they use it weekly and 35% daily. Among nurse practitioners, 89% said they used telehealth weekly and 52% reported daily use.

The highest reported daily use of telehealth was in psychiatry (66%), followed by endocrinology (48%).

Though synchronous video telehealth remains the most widely used telehealth modality, with 88% of physicians engaging in video visits, more than half (67%) also use audio-only telehealth. Additionally, 37% of physicians and 57% of nurse practitioners said they conduct telehealth visits from their homes.

Clinical teams use telehealth for various types of care delivery. The vast majority (84%) use it for follow-up visits, followed by medication management (60%) and discussing laboratory reports, test results and treatment options (57%).

According to physicians, improved chronic disease management and reduced urgent care or emergency department (ED) visits are the top benefits of telehealth. Most (84%) reported that telemedicine has improved continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions, and nearly half said telehealth reduced the need for urgent care or ED visits.

Telehealth's positive impact on chronic care is further underscored by the fact that 73% of endocrinologists and 70% of rheumatologists surveyed said they use telehealth for chronic disease management.

Overall, physicians report that telehealth has improved patient outcomes in their practices (64%), patient satisfaction (84%), patient access to healthcare (89%), and their level of communication with patients (75%). Not only that, but 70% also reported that telehealth has helped them better understand and address their patients' social determinants of health needs.

The survey of U.S. adults shows that those with chronic illnesses use telehealth more than those without. Of 41% of adults who participated in a telehealth visit during the previous year, 61% reported having a chronic disease.

Chronic disease patients also reported using telehealth more frequently. More than half (55%) of the 1,200 respondents who identified as having a chronic illness reported using telehealth three or more times in the past year, compared with 32% of the 1,200 respondents without a chronic disease.

U.S. adults cited ease of access (52%) and faster access (48%) as their top reasons for opting for virtual care rather than an in-person visit. Notably, 37% of survey respondents reported using telehealth because they did not think their medical need was serious enough for an in-person visit, and 78% indicated they would be more likely to seek nonemergency care if telehealth was an option.

Similar to physicians, U.S. adults noted that the most common reasons for telehealth visits in the past year were medication management and refills (44%), follow-up visits (43%) and reviewing test or lab results (42%).

A vast majority of adults surveyed said that telehealth improved or maintained their overall medical care (96%), increased or maintained their satisfaction with their care (95%), improved their access to healthcare services (78%) and improved their communication with their healthcare providers (74%).

Though most U.S. adults said they prefer in-person care when possible (60%), a large proportion of those who had participated in a telehealth visit in the year before said they would prefer virtual care when possible (41%). This figure jumped to 55% among those who had participated in three or more telehealth visits over the past year.

The findings echo data collected last year in a survey commissioned by Elevance Health and conducted by research firm Suzy.

The survey polled 2,000 U.S. adults in July 2023, showing that telehealth was most commonly used for prescription renewals (71%) and follow-up visits (62%). Additionally, 90% of survey respondents agree that virtual care offers access for those unable to participate in in-person care, and 73% said they would recommend virtual care to their family and friends.

However, 62% also said they were concerned that virtual visits do not allow for physical examinations.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.