After PHE’s End, Americans Signal Preference for In-Person Care

August 11, 2023 - Despite the boom in telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans and healthcare workers largely agree that in-person care is higher quality, more efficient, and more affordable than virtual care, a new survey shows.

Conducted by Morning Consult, the survey polled 1,006 healthcare workers from May 5 to May 18 and 2,202 United States adults from July 21 to July 23.

The loosening of regulations governing during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) led to a massive spike in telehealth services. While usage has reduced from pandemic highs, telehealth remains relatively widely used.

But patient perceptions regarding telehealth may be changing. The survey shows that only 6 percent of US adults prefer virtual care versus 53 percent who prefer in-person care.

This preference for in-person care was evident across all age groups. Generation Z displayed the highest preference for virtual care, with 9 percent of survey respondents in this group saying they preferred virtual care. However, 49 percent of Gen Z patients preferred in-person care. Similarly, while only 8 percent of Millennials said they preferred virtual care, 43 percent preferred in-person care.

Generation X and Baby Boomers — the most likely to prefer in-person care — also doubled down, with 51 percent and 64 percent, respectively, stating a preference for in-person care in this survey. Only 6 percent of Gen X patients and 2 percent of Baby Boomers said they preferred virtual care.

On the other hand, hybrid care proved relatively popular across age groups. About 30 percent of Gen Z patients, 40 percent of Millennials, 37 percent of Gen X patients, and 31 percent of Baby Boomers said they preferred a hybrid healthcare model that includes both in-person and virtual care.

US adults appear to prefer in-person care as they believe the quality, efficiency, and affordability of these services are better compared to virtual care.

About 45 percent of survey respondents said that the affordability of in-person care was better, while only 17 percent said virtual care affordability was better. About 26 percent did not find a difference in the affordability of in-person and virtual care.

With regard to the quality of care, 74 percent of Americans said in-person care quality was better, 6 percent said virtual care quality was better, and 13 percent said there was no difference.

Americans also view the efficiency of in-person care as superior to virtual care. About 67 percent said in-person care efficiency was better, 11 percent said virtual care efficiency, and 13 percent said there was no difference between the two.

Healthcare worker perceptions in these areas hew closely to those of US adults. Of the healthcare workers surveyed, 44 percent said the affordability of in-person care was better, 77 percent said the quality of in-person care was better, and 72 percent said the efficiency of in-person care was better. Meanwhile, only 16 percent said the same about virtual care affordability, 6 percent about virtual care quality, and 8 percent about virtual care efficiency.

Similar to US adults, 26 percent of healthcare workers said there was no difference between in-person and virtual care affordability, and 13 percent said there was no difference between in-person and virtual care efficiency. Around 11 percent of healthcare workers found no difference between in-person and virtual care quality.

Researchers are still trying to gauge the overall efficacy and quality of virtual care as study results have been mixed.

One study published last September shows that virtual care methods perform on par or better than in-person care on most quality measures evaluated. The study evaluated data from 526,874 patients, with 409,732 receiving only in-person care and 117,142 participating in telehealth visits.

Researchers found that patients participating in telehealth performed better than those in the in-person-only group on four testing-based measures: patients with cardiovascular disease with lipid panels, patients with diabetes with hemoglobin A1c testing, patients with diabetes with nephropathy testing, and blood pressure control.

But another study published last month revealed that the benefits of telehealth only apply to certain conditions. Researchers assessed visits at hospital-based outpatient clinics in Maryland between 2012 and 2021. They found that patients seeking care for behavioral health issues, metabolic disorders, dermatology, and musculoskeletal issues experienced benefits from telehealth, but others did not.