Radiology, Emergency Medicine Lead the Way in Telemedicine Use

In 2016, 15.4% of physicians worked in practices where physicians and patients sometimes interacted using telemedicine, and 11.2% of physicians worked in practices where physicians interacted with other healthcare professionals using telemedicine, says a study published in the December 2018 issue of Health Affairs. Among those using telemedicine with patients, radiologists (39.5%) were the most frequent users, followed by psychiatrists (27.8%) and cardiologists (24.1%), according to the study. Specialists use telemedicine to treat patients in a variety of ways, the authors stress. Among radiologists, 42.7% used telemedicine for storing and forwarding of data; 37.4% said their practices used "telemedicine to diagnose and treat patients."