The pandemic drove telehealth’s current popularity and, according to a recent study, telehealth won’t be going away anytime soon — regardless of COVID-19 status.
The study, out of Syracuse University’s Falk College, relied on a survey created by two physicians and the study’s lead author, Bhavneet Walia, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health at Syracuse University.
Survey respondents included 148 physicians from around the United States.
“I was surprised by the results. I initially thought that, because of the challenges of telehealth, physicians would not be in favor of continuing post-pandemic,” Walia said. “It turns out they do. But make no mistake, there are challenges.”
Technology itself was one of the most frequently noted challenges among survey responders. Internet connectivity along with software and hardware require money and training. And this is just on the physician side. A future study, according to the Syracuse University researchers, will investigate patient relationships with telehealth.
“In the U.S., we talk about this iron triangle of healthcare, which is quality, access and cost,” Walia said. “The results of this survey show that physicians who practice internal medicine are in favor — more than 40%, say they would continue with telehealth. This is great in terms of achieving the iron triangle.”The study was published by JMIR Human Factor.
