When Covid hit in March of 2020 doctors pivoted health care to virtual capabilities. It seemed kind of wonderful at the time. No time off work, no driving, no parking, no waiting for an appointment – just facetime the doctor. Now that we’ve kicked the tires, the patients of America are collectively responding with a resounding, “Nah.”
“We are finding out that most patients want to be seen face-to-face rather than do virtual visits,” says primary care family physician Dr. Abayomi Ogunwale with UT Health.
Doctors had considered for years that expanding technologies would eventually allow for a new potential in treating patients, and envisioned a world where many routine matters could be handled with online appointments. They didn’t know a virus would prompt the leap sooner than expected, and didn’t expect that patients would be so reluctant to continue engaging virtually. Many hospitals and health providers invested in new systems and staff training, but are finding there's just not much of a market for it.
In 2021, drop off of virtual medicine usage dropped 40% a month.
That leads us to the poll question today.