A new study from Nemours Children's Health System suggests each sports medicine-related telemedicine visit saves health systems $24 per patients.
Here are five things to know:
1. The study included 120 patients under the age of 18 who had at least one telemedicine visit. Researchers then compared total time of clinical visit, percentage of time spent with attending surgeon and wait time to data from in-person visits.
2. Researchers found telemedicine reduces costs for both the patient and the health system and keeps patient satisfaction levels high.
3. Patients who used telemedicine saved an average of $50 in travel costs and 51 minutes in waiting and visit time.
4. Patients also spent a greater amount of time with a physician through telemedicine visits, 88 percent of visit time, compared to 15 percent when at an in-person visit.
5. After telemedicine visits, parents were asked to complete a satisfaction survey that found:
• 91 percent of parents found the application easy to download
• 98 percent of parents would be interested in future telemedicine visits
• 99 percent of parents would recommend telemedicine to other families