MedHealth today revealed insights from its telehealth efficacy and satisfaction research conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding 91% of clients who were assessed via a virtual independent medical examination (TeleIME) were satisfied with the process. Additionally, 90% of our customers found the TeleIME reports adequately addressed their requirements.
Based on research conducted September 2019 to August 2020, these results, and many other findings and recommendations, are contained within the discussion paper ‘Telehealth Independent Medical Examinations: How we use virtual assessments and are they here to stay?”.
CEO of MedHealth, Tim Morphy said: “The pandemic has led to a huge uptake in the use of telehealth, with increased use alleviating many initial concerns and leading to greater awareness of its benefits and optimum use.”
Some of the findings included:
- Of MedHealth’s customers surveyed, including large insurers, employers and Governments, 90% found TeleIME medical reports adequately addressed the issues posed by their letter of instruction
- 90% of the people who experienced the assessment (clients) were satisfied with their telehealth service
- A further 86% of clients were satisfied with the information provided to help them prepare for the TeleIME assessment
- Across the medical specialist respondents, 60% said they would comfortably offer telehealth services after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted
Mr Morphy said MedHealth’s research indicated there are many benefits for the TeleIME approach.
“By continuing a claim, a return to work, treatment or recovery plan, we are ultimately supporting people to make decisions and work towards better health and employment outcomes.
“Our study, and other global studies published in scientific journals, show that telehealth in general can significantly improve accessibility to healthcare evaluations. With telehealth, a person can be evaluated by a specialist who lives in a distant location, allowing convenient and cost-effective access to best-in-class professionals.”
In April 2020, MedHealth published a white paper on its approach to TeleIMEs, covering information on the broad range of solutions it can offer across its independent medical opinion businesses and ways to make telehealth more effective.
The report released today follows on from the initial paper by investigating how MedHealth’s approach to TeleIMEs works in practice. MedHealth researched the use of TeleIMEs across mlcoa, Medilaw Group and ASSESS Group both before and during the pandemic, surveying stakeholders’ satisfaction with them. The discussion paper is also based on desk research on telehealth, incorporating evidence and insights from global telehealth research.
The 12-month timeframe for the study allowed MedHealth to capture six months of pre-pandemic activity and six months of activity after the onset of the pandemic, in order to compare changes in levels of activity. To read the full results, please view the paper here.
If you want more information on telehealth across our MedHealth specialist service groups – mlcoa, Medilaw Group and the ASSESS Group – or have any questions regarding this paper, please get in touch with your local MedHealth office.
