Dive Brief:
- The results of a new survey conducted by Rock Health indicate that active digital health adopters—defined as people who have used digital health tools in three or more categories—now make up 46% of American consumers, compared to 19% in 2015.
- The use of video-based telemedicine tripled since last year, even though nearly a third of telemedicine appointments are self-pay.
- When it comes to the confidentiality of their health data, Americans trust their family members and physicians the most, government and tech companies the least, according to the survey.
Dive Insight:
Not surprisingly, the Internet remains an important source of health information. Consumers are taking action based on their research, from asking their doctor to prescribe or discontinue a medication to suggest their own diagnosis or treatment to the physician—a trend some physicians have hesitated to embrace. However, consumers are also receptive to physician suggestions about digital health tools; among respondents who downloaded a health app, nearly a third did so because their doctor recommended it.
In addition, one out of five respondents requested or downloaded an electronic copy of their medical records just in the last six months. They are willing to share their health data in order to get better care, and 62% would also share their data to contribute to medical research. With trust in doctors higher than trust in the government, private research endeavors are more likely to find willing participants.
People have long researched physicians before choosing one. This survey clarified their priorities: Consumers look for information on quality of care, insurance company, location and cost. Having access to all of this information in one place would make consumers’ research more meaningful and actionable, David Vivero, co-founder and CEO and Amino, was quoted in the survey.
Echoing the results of a survey from Surescripts, more and more patients are embracing telemedicine. Rock Health found that the telephone is the medium used most often for telemedicine “visits,” but patients were most satisfied with live video. Satisfaction rates across all media (phone, e-mail, text message, app-based, and live video) surpassed 75%.