When a COVID-19 vaccination becomes available, patients may be more likely to safest getting it from their doctor, according to a recent survey.
When asked in the second annual “State of Patient Access and Engagement” 2020 survey where consumers would feel safest receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, nearly half chose the doctor's office. The survey, conducted OnePoll and commissioned by DocASAP, a patient access platform, polled 1,000 U.S. adults who had visited a doctor in the last 12 months. It also found one in three respondents said they'd feel safest getting a vaccine at a hospital and 29% said they'd feel safest at a pharmacy.
In contrast, DocASAP's “Telehealth Consumer Experience” survey on July 28 found just more than one in four patients felt doctor’s offices were the safest facility to enter.
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When it comes to distributing the vaccine outside of a physicians office, more respondents said they would feel safer receiving the vaccine in a grocery store with a walk-in clinic (16%) or retail store with a walk-in clinic (15%) than a drive-thru vaccination site (7%).
"As states and healthcare leaders develop vaccination distribution plans, understanding patient preference will be critical to ensuring mass immunization," DocASAP officials said in a statement.
Overall, 84% of consumer respondents said they would plan to get an annual flu vaccine.
Virtual options
Meanwhile, the survey also found a large number of patients (44%) are interested in a blend of telehealth and in-person care options.
Having digital options was also among the top factors that would influence a patients' decision to switch healthcare providers, the survey found. The top response for switching was “provider’s location is more convenient” (44%), but was closely followed by “provider is available for both telehealth and in-person visits” (40%) and “provider has near-term availability when I need care” (37%).
“Blended care
Beyond the appointment itself, nearly half of providers responded they would prefer scheduling an appointment with a healthcare provider online compared to 39% who said they'd prefer to schedule over the phone and 10% who said they'd prefer in-person.
Consumers also indicated they preferred digital options for pre-appointment and post-appointment communications. The majority (56%) said they preferred email or text message for pre-appointment communications, up 4% from the same time last year. Meanwhile, 64% of consumers said they preferred post-appointment communications from their healthcare providers to be via digital methods, up 6% compared to last year.
The survey found "text message" was selected as the preferred method for appointment reminders across all ethnic groups.