Even though 70 percent of health consumers rate their telemedicine experience as very good or excellent, actual utilization still lags, with only about 6 percent of consumers using the services, according to the "2017 National Consumer Survey" commissioned by Professional Research Consultants.
For its survey, PRC asked 1,000 consumers across 48 states about what they value most in healthcare.
Here are seven things to know.
1. Actual utilization of telemedicine has declined slightly since 2010 when 9 percent of respondents indicated they used the services. In 2017, 6 percent said they used the service.
2. Telemedicine satisfaction has also declined. In 2010, 67 percent of respondents rated their telemedicine experiences as excellent. This dropped to 30 percent in 2012 and 19 percent in 2014. However, it spiked to 49 percent in 2015 before falling to 25 percent in 2017.
3. Almost half (44 percent) of respondents said they would be willing to substitute telemedicine for traveling to a specialist.
4. Overall, 72 percent of respondents said they use the internet to gather healthcare information, and about 29 percent said the internet is where they receive most of their healthcare information.
5. Health consumers typically turn to smartphones (36 percent), hospitals' websites (35 percent) or hospitals' social media (8 percent) to obtain health information.
6. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they have spoken to a physician about what they learned on the internet, and 53 percent said they've tried solutions or treatments they found online.
7. About 23 percent of respondents clicked on or called a nurse call center, insurance company or other healthcare hotline after surfing the web for more information.
Click here to view the full survey.