Promoted as a ‘Front Door’ to Healthcare, Telemedicine May Be More of a Side Entrance (at Best)

The COVID-19 pandemic could have ushered in a golden age for telemedicine. In fact, many healthcare facilities (urgent care centers among them) bent over backwards to get their digital game up to speed so they could offer patients care safely, if remotely, when there may not have been any other options at all. Despite that opportunity, according to a new report from Experian Health, telehealth still looks like a less-than-ideal entry point into healthcare. The data, reflecting the responses of 202 providers and 1,001 adult patients in the United States, show that positive perceptions among members of both groups may be declining. Sixty-two percent of patients reported that their perception of the virtual healthcare experience is worse than it was over the past 2 years; nearly half of the provider respondents felt the same. One note that may be especially helpful to urgent care operators: Most patients said they’d like to have the option of scheduling appointments online.