Researchers from Mayo Clinic have found that telehealth can be just as accurate as in-person visits for diagnosing a variety of medical conditions, according to a Sept. 2 study in JAMA Network Open.
The study analyzed 2,393 Mayo Clinic patients who had a new clinical problem assessed via a telemedicine visit (using Zoom Care Anyplace integrated into Epic) between March 24, 2020, and June 24, 2020.
The provisional diagnosis on the virtual visits was consistent with the in-person reference standard in 86.9 percent of the cases.
The accuracy levels ranged from 77.3 percent for ear, nose and throat specialists to 96 percent for psychiatrists. For specific conditions, the levels went from 64.7 for ear and mastoid process diseases to 96.8 percent for neoplasms.