Who doesn't want to receive their medical care easily through telecommunications? Not WebMD, but real healthcare. MDLive, a major provider of telehealth services and software, sought the answer to this question with its 2014 Mobile Health Index. Conducted online in March by Harris Poll, the 2014 Mobile Health Index surveyed 2,000 adults over the age of 18 in the United States to determine the healthcare habits and preferences of Americans.
MDLive, in determining why people would like telehealth services, first determined who postpones medical checkups, and why they do so. The survey found that 54 percent of those with a doctor still postpone medical visits. It seems that the age group known as the “Young Invincibles,” those between the ages of 18 and 34, are most likely to skip out on a doctor visit; 71 percent of “Young Invicibles” are likely to not go to the doctor, versus 60 percent of those aged 35-44, 54 percent of those aged 45-54, 48 percent of those aged 55-64, and 30 percent of those aged 65 plus.
The reasoning for these postponed appointments was broken into the following:
- Cannot take a day off from work – 30 percent
- High costs (co-pays, co-insurance) – 25 percent
- Takes too long to get an appointment – 16 percent
- Don’t want to sit too long in the waiting room – 12 percent
- Embarrassment about my condition – 7 percent
- Too many germs at healthcare provider’s location – 6 percent
- Not comfortable discussing personal medical issues in person – 4 percent
Except for “embarrassment about my condition,” it seems that all of these concerns could actually be assuaged by more available telehealth services.
The survey also showed that telehealth services would be appreciated by many people, to the point that people would be willing to make sacrifices in order to be able to access their healthcare professional over the phone. Twenty-seven percent said they would make sacrifices for such a service. The question and answers have a strange twinge to them, but include 13 percent saying they would give up shopping for a month, 9 percent would skip their next vacation, 5 percent would skip showers for a week, and 3 percent were willing to forfeit a salary increase. The most shocking answer people gave was that they would sacrifice was their own relationship, with 1 percent saying they would give up their significant other for telehealth services. While the answers are a bit humorous, it is unlikely people would actually leave the love of their life for a healthcare convenience, it does show that people do believe it would be a valuable service.
People seem to have an idea of how telehealth can be a great service if certain benefits were provided. 67 percent said they would use telehealth if it had such benefits as lowered costs of consultations (36 percent), cut out waiting rooms or cancelled appointments (36 percent), led to shorter consultation times (34 percent), gave the doctor having access to full medical histories (32 percent), or had doctors available 24 hours a day (29 percent).
Those who had excuses for not making appointments might know that telehealth could waylay this, as they can access the service anywhere. The number one choice for where people would use such services made sense, with 35 percent saying they would do so while on vacation. The survey took another humorous twist, though, when 12 percent said they would use it while in the bathroom.
While a few of the questions and answers were definitely on the peculiar side, they do demonstrate the receptiveness of Americans for telehealth services. MDLive is taking advantage of this receptiveness too. With the release of the 2014 Mobile Health Index, MDLive also decided to announce that it is releasing a new app that its founder and CEO, Randy Parker, states is “the world's most feature rich, user-centric mobile app... the first truly integrated virtual health system.”
Edited by
Alisen Downey
