What Motivates Patients to Use Telehealth?
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
- Raj and Lott (American Journal of Managed Care, 2024) examined patient characteristics and motivations associated with telehealth use
METHODS:
- Cross-sectional secondary data analysis
- 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey
- Population
- A nationally representative sample of individuals both with and without cancer
- Study design
- Included only those observations where complete information for measures of interest were available
- Logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between demographic and health characteristics and outcomes
- Primary outcomes
- Use of telehealth services in the previous 12 months
- Motivations for using telehealth
RESULTS:
- 6252 respondents
- The most common reason for using telehealth was
- Recommendation or requirement by a clinician: 73.6%
- Respondents with depression were more likely to use telehealth
- Odds ratio (OR) 2.73 | P<0.001
- These patients were more likely to be motivated by convenience
- OR 1.80 | P<0.01
- Hispanic respondents were more likely to use telehealth to avoid exposure to infection
- OR 1.58 | P<0.05
CONCLUSION:
- Most patients who used telehealth did so because their clinician recommended or required it
- The authors state
Being female; having health insurance, multiple physical health conditions, depression, and more education; and residing in a metropolitan area were associated with a greater likelihood of using telehealth
Given that nearly two-thirds of respondents in this study did not have a telehealth visit in the previous 12 months, it is possible that further study of telehealth’s value—distinct from its utility through the pandemic—is required
