Roughly 15 percent of physicians say they've worked in a medical practice that uses telemedicine to connect with patients, according to a recent survey commissioned by the American Medical Association and published in Health Affairs.
More than 3,500 physicians responded to the AMA's 2016 Physician Practice Benchmark Survey, which sought to determine which specialists were most likely to use telemedicine to interact with patients. The survey results indicated that larger practices were more likely to use telemedicine than smaller or physician-owned practices.
Three study highlights:
Specialists most likely to use telemedicine to interact with patients:
- Radiologists: 39.5 percent
- Psychiatrists: 27.8 percent
- Cardiologists: 24.1 percent
Specialists least likely to use telemedicine to interact with patients:
- Allergists and immunologists: 6.1 percent
- Gastroenterologists: 7.9 percent
- OB-GYNs: 9.3 percent
Specialists most likely to use telemedicine to interact with other healthcare professionals:
- Emergency physicians: 38.8 percent
- Pathologists: 30.4 percent
- Radiologists: 25.5 percent
To access the full study in Health Affairs, click here.