Report: Telehealth Accounts for Fewer Than 20 Percent of Total Appointments

The Center for Connected Medicine (CCM) in partnership with KLAS Research conducted a report that was released in August entitled “The Intersection of Value and Telehealth: Survey Findings on Adoption and Utilization.”

The report is based on a survey of nearly 100 executives, directors, and managers in technology, informatics, business, and clinical roles at U.S. health systems and hospitals during May and June of 2021—which was before the rise in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant.

The report states that “More than 80 percent of survey respondents said one-fifth or less of their organizations’ appointments were being conducted virtually, according to the CCM’s research. And of the small number of hospitals and health systems reporting 30 percent or more of patient volume as virtual, many said they expected that number to decline as the pandemic wanes.”

Further, “Despite lower post-pandemic telemedicine volumes at many health systems, the CCM found that provider organizations are looking to expand telehealth services to better manage the health of patient populations while keeping costs down. Chronic care management, behavioral health, and urgent care were the top three service lines cited by survey respondents for future expansion of telehealth.”

Rob Bart, M.D., CMIO at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was quoted in the report saying that “Telemedicine is an important technology for advancing care and improving value at health systems. While utilization has declined compared with pandemic highs of 2020, we continue to invest in our telehealth capabilities because it is the right thing to do for our communities.”

Key highlights from the report include:

• A majority of organizations reported that telehealth accounts for fewer than 20% of their total appointments
• Sixty-three percent of respondents (respondents could chose more than one option) reported that chronic care management is an area of future expansion for telehealth
• Fifty-four percent of respondents (respondents could chose more than one option) reported that mental/behavioral health is an area of future expansion for telehealth
• Ninety-two percent of respondents (respondents could chose more than one option) reported that visit volumes are a metric a commonly used to measure telehealth
• Eighty percent of respondents (respondents could chose more than one option) reported that satisfaction is a metric that is commonly used to measure telehealth
• Sixty-five percent of respondents (respondents were asked to identify their top three choices) cited patient access to technology as an obstacle to advancing telehealth in their organization
• Sixty percent of respondents (respondents were asked to identify their top three choices) cited reimbursements as an obstacle to advancing telehealth in their organization
• Sixty-seven percent of respondents (respondents could chose more than one option) reported that patients are accessing virtual care through a portal/virtual front door
• Forty-eight percent of respondents (respondents could chose more than one option) reported patients are accessing virtual care through a standalone app
• Thirty-three percent of respondents reported that telehealth technology has advanced their organization’s value-based care programs

The full report can be downloaded here.