Study: Quality of urgent care by commercial telehealth providers varies widely

Wed Apr 27 11:59:35 PDT 2016

April 5, 2016

Study: Quality of urgent care by commercial telehealth providers varies
widely

<http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/study-quality-urgent-care-commercial-te
lehealth-providers-varies-widely/2016-04-05?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=interna
l&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWkdOalpEZGlOREF3TkRCbSIsInQiOiJMUmhIN0FEenJ3Snk1V0lmMExEZm
NMVWZzRlk1ZWJxcFNCSlYzQUFsSzFvbFwvNkQwaWFiZTdcL05HM29STDFSRnpDaUxZWTJVSlNKVV
NUVU1Tc1lqNkVZTDBKRWZXWkNFSnhuUFJqUmtyUVJ3PSJ9> Fierce HealthIT

By Susan D. Hall

The quality of urgent care treatment varies widely among commercial
providers of virtual doctor visits, according to research published in JAMA
Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and elsewhere
trained 67 patients to present six common acute illnesses to eight companies
providing telemedicine services.

The ailments included ankle pain, potential strep, sore throat, sinus
infection, low back pain and urinary tract infections. The study involved
599 virtual visits to Ameridoc, Amwell, Consult a Doctor, Doctor on Demand,
MDAligne, MDLIVE, MeMD and NowClinic.

The researchers found that one in four patients got an incorrect or no
diagnosis from the virtual visits. Virtual doctors got complete histories
and did thorough exams anywhere from 52 percent to 82 percent of the time.

"One of the more surprising findings of the study was the universally low
rate of testing when it was needed," lead researcher Adam Schoenfeld, M.D.,
of UCSF, told Reuters.

Mode of communication--such as Web chat or videoconference--didn't appear to
influence how often treatment guidelines were followed. In addition,
variation across providers was significantly greater for sore throat and
sinus infection than for the other ailments.

Sixty-four percent of patients surveyed by Harris Poll on behalf of
telehealth company American Well said they were willing to consider a video
chat with their doctor instead of an in-person visit. However, a majority of
respondents to a poll by TechnologyAdvice Research reported being wary of
telemedicine and distrustful of a virtual diagnosis.

Jeff Wells
Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

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