With an abundance of emerging technology, it’s no surprise that an increasing number of brands have been finding ways to incorporate digital tools into the clinical environment. While the goal has been to use new and novel tech to positively change the lives and workloads of clinical professionals, most physicians have been apprehensive to adopting the unfamiliar, and sometimes complex, alternatives. But, thanks to new 2019 digital health research from the American Medical Association (AMA), awareness, adoption and enthusiasm around the possibilities of digital health is starting to grow among physicians.
The results of the new research follow just three years after the original digital health report. In order to properly capture the most recent changes, the AMA replicated the same survey design as previously used in 2016. The physician panel, provided by WebMD, was also kept the same with careful consideration of sample quotas to ensure a similar group of physicians were surveyed. After collecting more than 1,300 responses, results were made available to the public toward the beginning of February. Here are some of the most notable insights within the report:
- Among the PCPs that responded to the survey, there has been a significant increase in the advantage they feel digital health solutions bring to their ability to care for their patients
- The use of telehealth and remote care tools have nearly doubled since 2016
- Improved efficiency and increased patient safety remain the top motivators for physicians to use digital health tools
- While many physicians are aware of immersive technologies, adoption remains in the single digits. But, almost one-third of them plan to adopt some form of the tech within the next three years
- Physicians are most interested in emerging technologies to help them serve chronic care patients
Coming on the heels of a quickly approaching season of brand planning, research reports such as the one above may serve as the supporting detail needed to expand upon use of digital health tools. As more and more physicians look forward to new tech solutions, now has never been a better time to find a way to incorporate the possibilities.
