Busy Americans are warming up to the idea of telemedicine, or doctors visits conducted over video chat either on the phone or computer. But overall, the idea of telemedicine hasn’t caught on with the American public just yet.
About one in 10 Americans (12%) say they’ve used a telemedicine app to communicate with a healthcare provider, according to new data from YouGov that first appeared on Cheddar Business. Another 14 percent, however, say they’ve never heard of such products.
The usage rates increase significantly, among a few subsets. Parents of a child under 18 (23%), people who live in urban areas (18%), and those with an annual household income of $80K+ (19%) are more likely than total (12%) to have used telemedicine.
The segment of the population that has used telemedicine, also seems more comfortable with using the services (64% comfortable overall vs. 91% comfortable among those who have used the services). This group also trusts telemedicine doctors more than the public (51% to 75% trust)
The top reason for using telemedicine services is convenience more so than cost.
The top concerns about the technology are about quality of care and potential misdiagnoses.
See the full YouGov survey results here and sign up to be a part of the YouGov panel.
Methodology: Total unweighted sample size was 1,329 US adults. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (ages 18+). Interviews were conducted online between November 22 - 25, 2019. This survey has been conducted using an online interview administered to members of the YouGov Plc panel of individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. All results are based on a sample and are therefore subject to statistical errors normally associated with sample-based information.
