Telemedicine is growing in the United States, but there are several perceived roadblocks that remain. Here are the major roadblocks, according to the Medscape "Physician and Patient Attitudes Toward Technology in Medicine."
Here are the top four roadblocks physicians see to implementing telemedicine:
1. Medical/liability concerns: 60 percent
2. Reimbursement concerns: 43 percent
3. Technical problems: 40 percent
4. Privacy/security issues: 40 percent
Here are the top five roadblocks patients see to implementing telemedicine:
1. Not sure diagnoses via telemedicine are as accurate: 64 percent
2. My physicians don't offer telemedicine: 51 percent
3. Concerned about insurance coverage: 40 percent
4. Privacy/security issues: 33 percent
5. Technical problems connecting via phone or video: 31 percent
The perceived roadblocks for physicians varied by practice location; the urban physicians were most concerned about malpractice liability while rural physicians were most concerned about technical problems with the technology.