Credit Suisse https://credit-suisse.com discusses current thoughts from Doximity’s researchers that appear in the company’s 2020 State of Telemedicine Report. To develop the report, Doximity, https://doximity.com researchers were able to analyze data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and private claims data.
As for the impact of COVID-19 on telemedicine adoption, Doximity researchers estimate that more than 20% of all medical visits will be conducted via telemedicine in 2020, representing $29.3 billion of all medical services.
The company also anticipates much of the Medicare, Medicaid, and privately insured office visits will be virtualized in coming years. According to the report, telehealth will divert a significant percentage of emergency department visits and become an important adjunct to home healthcare support. This is expected to result in up to $106 billion of current U.S. healthcare spend virtualized by 2023.
Doximity surveyed 2K U.S adults identified as having a chronic illness as to their attitudes and preferences towards telemedicine starting July 2020. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 14% of Americans had used telemedicine at least one time. However, the number of patients with a chronic condition was significantly higher with 35% reporting that they had engaged with their physician via telemedicine pre-COVID-19.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic:
- The number of Americans who reported having participated in at least one telehealth visit has increased by 57%. For those with chronic illness, this increase is even higher at 77%
- Some 23% of respondents to the survey said they plan to use telehealth more after the pandemic is over
- While 27% of respondents said they feel more comfortable using telemedicine since the pandemic
- Some 28% of survey respondents reported that they feel telemedicine is the same or better quality of care when compared to in-person visits, while 53% of patients with a chronic illness felt that it is the same quality of care or better
As for physician adoption, according to Doximity, the number of physicians who self-reported telemedicine as a skill has increased annually by 20% between 2015 and 2018. This number has nearly doubled increasing by 38% between 2019 and 2020.
The report highlights that there is a clear overlap between specialties that use telemedicine the most and specialties and that manage chronic illnesses, such as endocrinology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, etc. Treating long-term chronic conditions, like diabetes and arthritis requires frequent patient visits, but these visits do not always need to be in-person. For patients that require long-term care, telemedicine tools can reduce taxing trips to hospitals or clinics.
As for the geographical spread, the report notes that Massachusetts is leading the adoption of telemedicine, followed closely by North Carolina and New Jersey. Overall, urban areas are more quickly adopting telemedicine.
The states using telemedicine the least are mostly rural and suburban regions. This is somewhat counterintuitive given rural areas have the most to gain from providing telemedicine options.
Go to https://c8y.doxcdn.com/image/upload/v1599769894/Press%20Blog/Research%20Reports/2020-state-telemedicine-report.pdf for the 2020 State of Telemedicine Report.
For more information and to provide feedback, email Jailendra Singh at jailendra.singh@credit-suisse.com or call 212-325-8121.