Is Telehealth Better Used to Treat Patients or Help Other Physicians Treat Patients? An Agent-Based Modeling Study of Healthcare Provision
An agent-based modeling study investigated the impact of telehealth on healthcare provision, differentiating between physician-to-physician and physician-to-patient interactions. The research found that telehealth used for physician-to-physician consultations improved patient health outcomes without increasing system utilization, particularly for complex cases. Conversely, direct physician-to-patient telehealth led to increased costs and utilization without a corresponding improvement in clinical outcomes, suggesting its greater cost-effectiveness lies in enhancing specialist knowledge access for general practitioners. AI