As new value-based payment models continue to re-define the consumer healthcare experience, the use of telehealth as a lower-cost form of medical consultation has skyrocketed in popularity. Among the commercially insured, telehealth visits increased 261% between 2015 and 2017¹ and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report that telehealth adoption has grown more than 65%.² In order to evaluate customer satisfaction with this growing crop of telehealth providers, J.D. Power is launching its first-ever Telehealth Satisfaction Study in November 2019.

Evaluating telehealth providers in three categories—direct-to-consumer, payer-owned and health system-owned—the J.D. Power 2019 Telehealth Satisfaction Study will track the customer journey across five factors: awareness and selection; enrollment; consultation; billing and payment; and customer service. Objective benchmark performance metrics such as the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index model and the Net Promoter Score³ will be reported along with various behavioral metrics in the form of key performance indicators. Advocacy and loyalty measures will also be collected to help determine and forecast adoption rates across the United States.

Further, as part of the study, J.D. Power will also evaluate Telehealth non-users to measure awareness, potential usage and expectations.

“With a combination of steady organic growth and announced changes to the CMS reimbursement schedule that will allow providers and payers to be reimbursed for utilization of telehealth services, the telehealth marketplace is on the verge of rapid expansion,” said Greg Truex, Managing Director of Healthcare Intelligence at J.D. Power.“With the industry projecting a 20-30% increase in usage, it is critical to establish trusted, objective benchmarks for the quality of this type of service. Current providers are still figuring out what are the best performance metrics, what customers are really looking for in a telehealth experience and how to exceed patient expectations. This study will answer those questions and more.”

“We know from our insurance market research this year that half of healthcare insurance consumers are considering telehealth as an alternative to traditional primary care, so we are interested in developing telehealth research in order to understand how consumers experience new technology in healthcare and how it affects their overall satisfaction with different providers,” said James Beem, Managing Director of Healthcare Intelligence at J.D. Power.

J.D. Power award-eligible organizations that will be part of the study include (in alphabetical order):

Direct-To-Consumer Segment

98Point6

Amwell

Doctor On Demand

HealthTap

MeMD

MDLIVE

Teladoc

Payers Segment⁴

Aetna

Anthem

Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Cigna

Humana

United Healthcare

Health Systems Segment

Ascension

Adventist Health

Atrium Health

Catholic Health Initiatives

Dignity Health

Intermountain Healthcare

Kaiser Permanente

Memorial Hermann

Memorial Health

Mercyhealth

MultiCare

Novant Health

Ochsner Health

Providence Health

Spectrum Health

Sutter Health

Trinity Health

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (unranked)