Not all patients like telehealth, new survey suggests
As GPs wait to hear the fate of telehealth Medicare items, a patient survey suggests its not always the best option for those with depression or anxiety
Patients say consults via phone or video are on par with seeing their doctor face-to-face except when it comes to mental health.
A survey of 1369 adults found 62% of the 600 patients who had used telehealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic rated it ‘just as good’ or ‘better’ than in-clinic care.
But 205 patients with depression and anxiety and those less willing to take an active role in managing their healthcare rated telehealth as a ‘poor’.
“Our findings are similar to previous research on telehealth and mental health, which is concerning as negative experiences of telehealth may result in no mental healthcare for patients at all, if face-to-face services are unavailable,” the Sydney University researchers wrote in medRxiv.
