Perceived Usefulness of Increased Telemedicine Use by Pediatric Subspecialists: A National Survey

Abstract

Introduction:

Although many studies have explored the perceived ease-of-use of telemedicine, the perceived usefulness of telemedicine for pediatric subspecialty care is less clear.

Methods:

We invited a national sample of 840 general pediatricians and 840 pediatric subspecialists to participate in a survey fielded in May–June 2020. Respondents ranked perceptions of usefulness of telemedicine for pediatric subspecialty care on a 5-point Likert scale and prioritization of potential strategies to support telemedicine use on a 4-point scale.

Results:

Of 285 respondents (18% response rate), physicians perceived that increased telemedicine use by pediatric subspecialists would modestly improve child health (mean = 3.5, standard deviation [SD] = 0.7), and access to care (mean = 3.9, SD = 0.6), but would slightly worsen the clinician experience (mean = 2.8, SD = 0.8). Most respondents highly prioritized payment-related strategies to support use of telemedicine.

Conclusions:

Pediatric clinicians anticipated that increased telemedicine use by pediatric subspecialists would improve child health and health care access but would worsen clinician experience.