The Data Point: 16% of Youthful Gen Zers Use Telehealth, Leading All Age Groups

The telehealth wave rolls on with no end in sight after a pandemic kickstart moved the video triage technology center stage for patients needing to confer with physicians remotely.

For The Connected Economy™: The Trend Toward Digital Healthcare, a PYMNTS report with research sponsored by CareCredit, we surveyed nearly 2,700 consumers about their use of telehealth in past months up to the present, finding some fascinating trends in the data.

With a possible recession heading our way, affordability is key.

“More than two-thirds of respondents who live paycheck to paycheck and have difficulty making ends meet monthly utilized telehealth in May, signaling that telehealth options can help some consumers obtain essential healthcare services to which they might otherwise lack access,” the study found.

Get the study: The Trend Toward Digital Healthcare

• Twenty-six percent of United States patients sought both telehealth and remote counseling services in May.

While face-to-face visits are rising again as infection fears recede, the slight uptick seen in telehealth use indicates a lasting trend that’s finding its level in the marketplace.

“In May 2022, 26% of U.S. patients sought out both telemedicine and remote counseling services, compared to 21% in November 2021,” the study stated. “Only 8% of patients used telemedicine options exclusively, and only 4% used remote counseling exclusively. The demand for online healthcare extends to both mental and physical health as well, but when given the option to use both, many patients take it.”

• Forty-one percent of patients living paycheck to paycheck use both telehealth and remote counseling, compared to just 15% of patients who don’t live paycheck to paycheck.

Access and affordability are healthcare watchwords as the pandemic gives way to a possible recession, bringing more Americans into the telehealth ranks as a result.

PYMNTS found that 41% of patients living paycheck to paycheck use both telehealth and remote counseling services, compared to 15% of patients who do not live paycheck to paycheck. “The share of patients living paycheck to paycheck that engage in both was just 34% in November 2021, indicating that this segment’s demand for digital health services is on the rise,” the study found.

• At 16%, Generation Z is the most likely of all generations to use telehealth services.

Starting out in life and often lacking healthcare options, PYMNTS’ research found the Gen Z demographic group the most engaged with telehealth use now.

“Generation Z is the most likely of all generations to use telemedicine services, with 16% doing so,” the study stated. “This compares to 6% of millennials and bridge millennials who do the same. Millennials, however, use remote counseling the most, with 7% of millennial respondents saying they utilize only this digital service.”

Get the study: The Trend Toward Digital Healthcare