Doctor.com has released its study, "Telemedicine Adoption in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond," based on the results of a nationwide survey of more than 1,800 adults. The findings highlight vast patient adoption of telemedicine during the current healthcare climate as well as the need for easy, fast, and secure telemedicine services in the months and years to come.
 
The majority of patients (83%) said they will likely use telemedicine even after the pandemic ends. 55% of patients were willing to use telemedicine to see new doctors, and 69% conveyed that "easy-to-use technology" would help them decide to make a telemedicine appointment.
 
"Telemedicine Adoption in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond" uncovers several key themes:
 

• Telemedicine is here to stay: 71% of patients would consider using telemedicine services today, and 83% are likely to turn to telemedicine after the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Telemedicine can bridge the "reopening" phase: Among patients who had to cancel or reschedule an appointment due to COVID-19, over ⅓ want to use telemedicine to resume care ASAP.
• Reviews matter when choosing a "virtual" doctor: While 55% of patients would use telemedicine to seek care with a new doctor, 40% would only see a new doctor virtually if they had a referral or the physician had excellent online ratings and reviews.
• User-friendly technology is key to winning patients: The top three reasons that would encourage a patient to use telemedicine are easy-to-use technology (69%), communication from the hospital or practice that such services are available (57%), and online scheduling options for a virtual appointment (47%).
• Telemedicine can impact prescription adherence: 91% of patients agree that telemedicine would help them adhere to appointments and manage prescription refills while 93% say they would use telemedicine to learn about and access new medications.

 
"COVID-19 has naturally fast-tracked the adoption of telemedicine by both patients and physicians as a necessary means to access care," said Andrei Zimiles, CEO of Doctor.com. "And as telemedicine becomes part of a 'new normal,' it is critical that providers begin shifting their long-term care strategies to incorporate virtual care and meet patients' rapidly evolving expectations for this channel. For example, patients are looking for easy ways to request virtual appointments when they're searching for care on provider directories and consumer health websites. They are also turning to online reviews from other patients to give them a sense of what the virtual experience with a given physician will be like, making it more important than ever for hospitals and medical practices to engage patients to share feedback on popular healthcare sites."
 
VirtualVisit
Zimiles continued, "In an effort to help providers and patients during these challenging times, Doctor.com is now offering VirtualVisit, a completely free telemedicine solution that can be used by any healthcare professional. Based on feedback from our provider community, we've built an incredibly user-friendly, HIPAA-compliant platform that doesn't require complicated integrations, never asks patients to download an app, and includes advanced features like text messaging, HD video, screen sharing, and chat, which are usually only available in costly premium solutions. Most importantly, all of this was built to handle not just private practice use cases but also the demands of large health systems that require enterprise-grade security, stability, and consistent performance for thousands of individual physician users."
 
Providers can sign up for VirtualVisit in less than five minutes with no credit card or existing Doctor.com relationship required. And unlike any of the other solutions on the market, VirtualVisit features in-app patient review collection and native integration with the leading consumer healthcare websites — empowering providers to capture new patient opportunities from across the web.
 
"The respondents to our survey almost unanimously agree that telemedicine can have a profound impact on their path to finding the right treatment options," said Josh Kramon, VP of Life Sciences at Doctor.com. "For life sciences brands, this represents an unprecedented opportunity to deploy a 'digital point-of-care' strategy that can reach both patients and providers in the minutes before they connect online. Doctor.com is working closely with our life sciences clients to ensure they are first in line to embrace these new opportunities and deliver their message across the entirety of this new, fully digital patient journey."