Key Care: Consumers Prefer Telehealth to In-Person Visits While Traveling
A survey sponsored by KeyCare found that nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) of consumers who needed minor but urgent medical services while traveling in the prior year received care via telehealth visits with their regular physicians or affiliated members of their physicians’ care teams, outpacing all other care-delivery options. The survey also reveals the importance of health systems aligning with virtual care partners to increase access for traveling patients, while decreasing the risk of their own physicians violating state telehealth licensing regulations. The results of this survey confirm that there is substantial consumer demand for telehealth services while traveling, but just as importantly, reveal a strong patient preference for virtual visits with telehealth providers who are closely connected to their main health system.