Acceptance and Willingness-to-Pay for Teledentistry: A Contingent Valuation Study

Area of Science:

• Oral Health
• Digital Health
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Teledentistry offers a potential solution to improve access to dental care.
• Understanding patient acceptance and willingness-to-pay (WTP) is crucial for successful teledentistry implementation.
• Previous research has explored teledentistry adoption, but data on WTP for specific services remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess patient acceptance of teledentistry video consults and reviews.
• To determine patients' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for teledentistry services.
• To identify sociodemographic factors influencing teledentistry acceptance and WTP.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 597 patients at a public hospital in Singapore.
• Comparison of acceptance rates for video consults versus video reviews using McNemar tests.
• Elicitation of WTP using a bidding game contingent valuation method and logistic regression analysis for sociodemographic correlations.

Main Results:

• 54.4% accepted initial video consults, while 70.9% accepted video reviews.
• Higher education and younger age correlated with increased acceptance (adj. OR 3.63 for university graduates in video reviews).
• 15.2% would pay in-person costs for consults, but 79.6% would for reviews; older patients (41+) showed lower WTP for reviews.

Conclusions:

• A majority of patients are willing to undergo and pay for teledentistry video reviews, more so than initial video consults.
• Younger age and higher education levels are key predictors of higher acceptance and willingness-to-pay for teledentistry.
• Findings suggest a favorable outlook for teledentistry, particularly for follow-up care, with specific demographic groups showing greater adoption potential.