What You Should Know:
– Nearly 70% of Medicare patients would be comfortable doing annual wellness visits (AWVs) via telehealth from home, according to the results of a consumer survey by KeyCare, an Epic-based virtual care company.
– These findings suggest a significant shift in preference among Medicare beneficiaries towards utilizing telehealth for routine healthcare needs. The convenience, safety, and cost-saving aspects of telehealth appear to be particularly appealing for AWVs. Additionally, the comfort level with using new providers highlights the potential for telehealth to expand access to care, especially in areas with physician shortages.
The survey was conducted in February 2024 by KeyCare and included 400 Medicare patients who had prior experience with telehealth visits finds:
Convenience Wins: The most frequently cited benefits of telehealth AWVs included:
– Convenience in terms of transportation and time (39.25%)
– Avoiding waiting rooms with potentially sick people (30.75%)
– Lower costs (23.25%)
– Quicker appointment scheduling (20%)
Openness to New Providers: The survey also showed that 75% of Medicare patients would be comfortable having their AWVs conducted by a provider who is not their regular doctor, as long as their medical records could be securely shared.
Telehealth Adoption Implications Ahead
The growing acceptance of telehealth for AWVs among Medicare beneficiaries could lead to increased adoption of this technology by healthcare providers and policymakers. This shift could significantly improve access to preventive care for a growing population.
“The results of this survey confirm that health systems have a tremendous opportunity to work with telehealth partners to deliver annual wellness visits to Medicare patients,” said Lyle Berkowitz, MD, CEO of KeyCare. “A formal annual wellness visit provides great value for Medicare patients by ensuring their medical record is up to date, while identifying social determinant of health issues and closing care gaps. And when health systems share this type of routine work with a virtual partner working on an interoperable medical record system, it should help increase the percentage of patients getting AWVs, while decreasing the strain on office-based providers and giving them time to focus on their more complex patients.”