Nearly 70% of Medicare Patients Comfortable with Telehealth for Annual Wellness Visit, Survey Shows

Telehealth has become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic and now almost three-quarters (69%) of Medicare patients are comfortable with their yearly wellness visit being conducted via telehealth, according to the results of a recent consumer survey from the virtual care network KeyChange.

The most popular benefits cited by participants were the decreased transportation time (39.25%), the option to avoid an office potentially full of sick people (30.7%) and quicker availability (20%).

The survey also found that 75% of Medicare patients would feel comfortable conducting their annual wellness visit with a provider who is not their regular physician.

"The results of this survey confirm that health systems have a tremendous opportunity to work with telehealth partners to deliver annual wellness visits to Medicare patients," said Lyle Berkowitz, M.D., CEO of KeyCare, in a press release. “A formal annual wellness visit provides great value for Medicare patients by ensuring their medical record is up to date while identifying social determinants of health issues and closing care gaps.”

These findings build upon last year’s KeyCare survey that revealed when presented with a telehealth option, only 37% of patients prefer going into the office.