A new study finds that 43% of people opted for telemedicine (also known as telehealth) in 2022, even when in-person visits were available. Of them, 70% chose video visits and 30% had audio-only, or phone, visits with their doctors. Video visits were less likely among older adults and people without internet access, the data showed.
People who were uninsured, older and didn’t use the internet were more likely to use audio telehealth, or phone calls. Audio-only calls may give people a greater sense of privacy, the authors pointed out. But clinics and health systems may need policies for audio-only telehealth, the team added.
The report was published March 22 in JAMA Network Open. It was based on data from 5,437 adults in the United States who had healthcare visits in 2022. Of them, 43% had telehealth visits on the phone or video. The average age was 49.4 years old, and 53.4% of people were women.
People who were women, had chronic conditions and those who had more visits were more likely to use telehealth, the data revealed.
People who used telehealth were more likely to have more healthcare needs, the researchers found. The investigators didn’t note any differences when they evaluated trends based on education, race and ethnicity, or income.
“Like portal use, barriers to video telemedicine may be more likely to be associated with individual differences in knowledge, skills, and comfort using technology rather than technology access,” the authors wrote.
During the pandemic, more systems made investments in telemedicine technology and it became widely available.
The news comes as another study published the same day in JAMA Health Forum found that, of Medicare enrollees, Black and Hispanic Americans were less likely to receive telemedicine compared to white people during the first full year of the pandemic. Additionally, there’s a push to keep Medicare reimbursements for telehealth intact, as they’re set to expire at the end of the year.
