While consumers give telehealth high marks for convenience, overall experience is fairly mixed, according to a new report.
J.D. Power released its annual Telehealth Satisfaction Study on Thursday, and found patients overall gave a score of 730 out of 1,000 for direct-to-consumer telehealth platforms. Payer-provided telehealth earned a lower score of 708, which suggests patients encounter differences in quality and ease of access between providers.
The study also found the highest satisfaction scores for people enrolled in Medicaid, those living in urban areas, millennials and Gen Zers. The lowest scores were among people enrolled in Medicare or commercial coverage, those living in suburban regions and members of the Boomer generation or older.
“The variation in telehealth overall satisfaction by payor and generation segments is largely due to differences in dimension score ratings in the study, notably, level of trust, visit with provider met my needs, people, digital channels, ease of receiving care, scheduling of appointment, and helping to save me time or money," Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power, told Fierce Healthcare in an email. "These are the focus areas that can make a difference."
The study found a variety of reasons that people choose to engage with telehealth. Many (65%) said their top reason was the convenience, while 46% said it was telehealth's ability to offer care quickly. In addition, 30% said they had a condition that is covered readily in a telehealth visit.
By comparison, a quarter of consumers said that internet and cellphone connectivity pose the largest barrier to engaging with telehealth, and 25% said the limited services offered through telehealth are a major challenge. Fifteen percent said they had concerns about data privacy and security.
The study found that overall 65% of consumers experienced at least one barrier during a telehealth visit.
J.D. Power also examined the services that patients would most like to receive through telehealth, and identified those with the largest satisfaction gaps. For medication review, for example, 74% who said they had an easy experience would use telehealth again, while 58% of those who had a difficult time would.
However, for follow-up visits related to chronic conditions, fewer than half (44%) who had a positive experience would use telehealth again, as would just 28% of those who had a difficult experience.
"Digital channels is also trending to be an important area for all the major players in healthcare, including telehealth, as consumers are experiencing digital innovation in a variety of other industries and then comparing those experiences to their healthcare encounters," Lis said. "Among the most impactful dimensions, prioritizing building trust, by ensuring easy enrollment, scheduling, and follow up, and by making sure the provider spent enough quality time with the patient to address their needs and concerns, is paramount."