Despite Benefits, Few PCPs Use Telehealth

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

The majority of family physicians see the benefits to telehealth, yet few actually use the technology.

Only 15 percent of family physicians surveyed by the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care use telehealth despite admitting they see the value it can provide.

According to mHealth Intelligence, researchers surveyed more than 1,500 physicians, of which 78 percent indicated telehealth could improve access to care. Additionally, 68 percent felt it could improve continuity of care. And while this indicates the benefits to telehealth were obvious, barriers remained making it difficult to adopt such technology.

“Overall, the findings of this survey confirm that family physicians see promise in the ability of telehealth to improve access to primary care services,” the report concludes. “The findings also suggest that telehealth is on the cusp of advancing from a tool used occasionally to a tool implemented on a routine basis. However, use of telehealth services will not become widely adopted until health systems are reformed to address barriers.”

 iHealth Beat notes that, of those who said there were obstacles to adoption, 54 percent cited a lack of training; 53 percent cited a lack of reimbursement; 45 percent cited the cost of equipment; and 41 percent cited liability concerns.

“Telehealth has the potential to alter the entire practice of medicine, just as the home computer and smartphones have altered information exchange and communication worldwide,” the survey’s authors conclude. “While telehealth services remain in the early stages of implementation, the findings from this survey are an important step toward identifying the key issues facing physicians as they enter this new realm of healthcare delivery.”