US Physicians' Perspective on the Sudden Shift to Telehealth: Survey Study

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Digital Health
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid transition to telemedicine for healthcare delivery in the United States.
• Physician experiences and perspectives on telehealth during this transition were largely undocumented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the extent of telehealth adoption and training among US physicians during the early COVID-19 pandemic.
• To evaluate the impact of telehealth on healthcare quality, access, and delivery models.
• To understand physician attitudes towards the future role of telehealth.

Main Methods:

• A purposive, snowball-sampled survey of 148 practicing US physicians was conducted.
• Data collection occurred between July 17 and September 4, 2020.

Main Results:

• Telehealth training intensity increased 21-fold; telehealth visits rose from 13.1% to 59.7% of patient care.
• Physicians reported comparable quality between telehealth and in-person visits (P=.11).
• Physicians advocate for telehealth to constitute 44.9% of future healthcare, but market concentration in telehealth software may affect cost and access.

Conclusions:

• Physicians have gained significant experience and training in telehealth during the pandemic.
• There is strong physician support for an expanded, permanent role for telehealth in US healthcare.
• Realizing enhanced healthcare access through telehealth may be contingent on the market structure of telehealth software platforms.