Eagle Telemedicine announced survey results of the Eagle 2023 Telemedicine Adoption Survey that show the current implementation, challenges and benefits of hospital telemedicine. Findings show that 94.6% of U.S. hospitals use telemedicine, primarily to help offset the rising physician shortage which, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), is expected to reach 122,000 by 2032.
While all the surveyed hospitals have a high implementation rate of over 89%, large hospitals (over 250 beds) have the highest telemedicine implementation of 97.7%. The leading reasons for using telemedicine include physician specialty support (52.2%), surge specialty support (40.3%), staffing gap support (39.8%) and night shift support (37.1%). Dermatology (40.6%) is the top specialty used across all hospital sizes.
Telemedicine also provides high patient satisfaction. 87.3% of the survey respondents reported patients are either satisfied or very satisfied with their telemedicine care. That said, there is room for improvement. The survey found that 32.9% of Northeast and 13.5% of Southwest respondents feel their patient telemedicine satisfaction needs improvement. Small hospitals (under 100 beds) also have a lower patient satisfaction rate of 76.9%. The top telemedicine implementation challenges include:
- Program infrastructure resources (60%)
- Slow physician response times (52.7%)
- Poor technology integration (18.2%)
Despite noted challenges, survey participants recognized many telemedicine advantages. The study found that each region of the country has a different benefit that they value most.
- Southeast: Improved Access to Care (46.8%)
- Southwest: Enhanced Specialty Services (48.7%)
- Northwest: Improved Clinical Retention (54.4%)
- Midwest: Improved Clinician Recruiting (47.3%)
“Telemedicine is the solution hospitals struggling with physician shortages need to increase vital access to care in both large and small facilities,” said Jason Povio, President and COO, Eagle Telemedicine. “The high patient satisfaction rates and diverse hospital benefits make telemedicine programs a transformational option to improve hospital sustainability while improving patient outcomes.”
All findings can be found in the Eagle 2023 Telemedicine Adoption Survey available for free download. For more information on the survey findings, join Eagle Telemedicine for the webinar “Meeting the Growing Physician Specialty Shortage” to be held live on August 30 at 2 p.m. EDT. Register here.
Methodology
The 2023 Telemedicine Adoption Survey polled 426 physicians, hospital administrators and executives and nurses that deliver inpatient care. The research was generated by Eagle Telemedicine in May 2023.
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