Health Affairs

The doctors who are most likely to use telemedicine

The new issue of Health Affairs is out, and it focuses on a hot topic in health care: telemedicine. Here are three studies that caught my eye:

• It’s more popular among certain specialties: Nearly 40 percent of radiologists and 28 percent of psychiatrists reported using telemedicine in patient interactions. Allergists, gastroenterologists, and physicians in offices with four or fewer doctors were the least likely to use it.
• It’s not common in addiction medicine: The use of telemedicine for substance use disorders remains low, but has grown slightly more common. There were more than 1,900 telemedicine visits for patients with substance use disorder in 2017, up from 97 in 2010, according to a new analysis.
• It can be used to help doctors, too: One study looked at a program at eight community hospitals that aimed to connect doctors who needed to resuscitate young babies with neonatologists to offer assistance via video. The program was tied to a reduction in the number of babies that needed to be transferred.