Certain consumers have expressed a high interest in telemedicine and CMS and private insurance are increasingly headed in that direction, but there’s still a long way to go if providers want to get paid for it, according to a new survey.
Just 19 percent of healthcare practitioners said they have a mechanism to get paid for telemedicine services, according to a survey conducted at the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine conference, held recently in San Diego. A majority, 56 percent, of those polled also said telemedicine technology is ahead of the current state medical board guidelines.
Despite such impediments to use of telemedicine, healthcare professionals are using the technology — 67 percent are either using telemedicine to provide services now, or planning to in the next few years, and most see the technology most appropriate for follow-up visits, according to the survey.
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Another 38 percent said they are offering care through either the pone, video visits or web cam visits, while 29 percent said they were planning on doing so in the next few years, the survey said.
Overwhelmingly, providers think telemedicine is best used for follow-up visits versus the first visit, with 68 percent saying telemedicine isn’t appropriate for the first visit.
The poll consisted of 754 healthcare practitioners, 78 percent of whom are physicians.
“When we have technology that can drive down the cost of health, and help improve patient outcomes, providers need to be reimbursed,” said Nick Jacobs, a board member of AIHM. “In this case, 33 percent of physicians are delivering service using telemedicine right now, yet just 19 percent say the service is covered. We find the same issue in integrative care – where for example, acupuncture, proven effective, is not covered by some health insurance providers. We need to open up all the options for healthcare to providers and patients. It drives down costs and improves patient outcomes.”
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