Virtual Health Could Offset the Impact of No-Show Appointments

Out of necessity, virtual health rose in popularity during the pandemic. In fact, 83% of providers offered virtual appointments in 2021 compared to only 13% pre-covid. Now, in the wake of the crisis, providers seem to want to return to “normal.” McKinsey recently reported that 62% of providers are recommending in-person visits over virtual care and many believe they will return to in-person as a primary delivery model. But it seems as though for every doctor recommending in-person care, there’s a patient that would prefer virtual…

A study conducted by CVS Heath revealed 62% of patients would use virtual care if there was no reason to be seen in the flesh.

Veritably, 55% of patients said they were more satisfied with their virtual appointments than in-person care. If we know anything about the competitive market, then we know this means virtual care is here to stay. And providers should embrace it because increased virtual care will work in their favor, if not through an increase in booked appointments then through the impact on no-shows and cancellations. One study showed that virtual appointments during the pandemic had a no-show rate that was nearly 80% less than in-office visits and compared a 7.5% rate for virtual visits to that of almost 30% for in-person appointments prior to covid-19. The same holds true for specialties as well, an unrelated study discovered that telehealth reduced the likelihood of no-shows by 79%. This illustrates the significant benefit of incorporating virtual care options into your patient access strategy, offering healthcare providers a direct way to offset the nearly $150 billion lost annually to missed appointments.

Why do patients prefer virtual health?

Again and again, patient surveys point towards convenience as the primary motivator for patient preferences and loyalty. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that 41% of patients say they prefer telehealth because they can get care from their homes and 37% attribute their preference to time savings. But we also can’t overlook how virtual care options combat access challenges; over 35% of patients say that they like virtual care because it removes transportation costs. This highlights the impact that offering long-distance care can have on low-income patients or those in rural areas— underlining the benefits beyond revenue to improving health outcomes for your patient community.

Envera Health supports virtual health programs for a variety of our partners, from scheduling and portal registration to aftercare follow-up, we create customized programs that meet the growing needs of your patient communities. Learn more about our Patient Access solutions.