Health Trends that Support Virtual Primary Care Adoption

While primary care has been proven to provide high-value care, positive healthcare experiences and better health outcomes, over 60% of Americans either don’t have or don’t use their primary care physician (PCP).1 If primary care produces better health outcomes and delivers significantly lower costs, why don’t people use it? One main reason is that in-person primary care is inconvenient.  

Whether it’s long wait times to see a doctor, having to take time off work, accounting for travel and childcare, or germy waiting rooms, Americans are less likely to see their PCP annually. Virtual Primary Care offers a convenient patient experience that, based on telemedicine utilization, will become a mainstay for patients, doctors and employers. According to a study by The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, “physicians noted that telemedicine visits offered more time for patient counseling, opportunities for better medication reconciliations, and the ability to see and evaluate patient home environments and connect with patient families.”2 

Here are some recent health trends that support adoption of a Virtual Primary Care solution: 

• 64% of broadband households used a virtual care service between April 2020 and April 2021, with 28% of those opting to do so out of convenience, up from 22% in the previous year.3 
  
  
• 43% of adults want to continue to use virtual care services after the pandemic, and 34% would prefer virtual care to an in-person office visit.4 
  
  
• Patient satisfaction with virtual visits appears to be comparable to traditional in-person visits, according to a Cleveland Clinic study.5 
  
  
• Doctors are also indicating comfort and preference for virtual care with 97% of PCPs using virtual care to treat patients, according to a 2021 survey.6 
  
  
• Recent surveys report that 57% of healthcare providers view virtual care more favorably than before COVID-19 and 64% report that they are more comfortable using it.7 
  
  
• 40% of millennials (75% of the workforce by 2025) believe telemedicine is an extremely important part of a benefits package.8 
  
  
• More than 70% of younger generations said they prefer virtual care because of convenience while 44% said they may switch providers if virtual care visits aren’t offered.9 

1. https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2020/02/18/primary-care
2. https://www.jabfm.org/content/34/supplement/s61.abstract
3. http://www.parksassociates.com/blog/article/pr-10132021
4. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/7-stats-that-show-how-americans-used-telehealth-in-2021.html
5. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/how-patients-really-feel-about-virtual-visits-5-cleveland-clinic-study-insights.html
6. https://www.fshealth.com/hubfs/2022%20Assets/Ebook/Guide%20to%20Virtual%20Primary%20Care.pdf
7. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/after-covid-19-250-billion-care-could-shift-telehealth
8. https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/millennials-demand-telehealth-move-away-traditional-primary-care-model
9. https://www.aha.org/aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2021-06-29-there-may-be-generation-gap-telehealths-future