How Does Telemedicine Shape Physician’s Practice in Mental Health?

37 Pages Posted: 10 Mar 2021 Last revised: 26 Jul 2022

See all articles by Maggie (Manqi) Li

Maggie (Manqi) Li

Renmin University of China - School of Business

Shima Nassiri

University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Xiang Liu

Tsinghua University - Department of Industrial Engineering

Chandy Ellimoottil

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Urology

Date Written: January 15, 2021

Abstract

With the prevalence of digital devices and internet access, telemedicine (visiting physicians through real-time telecommunication) is becoming an important mode of service. In this work, we study whether the adoption of telemedicine has an impact on physicians' behavior in terms of scheduling related follow-up visits. To answer this question, we use a changes-in-changes (CIC) model to estimate the effect of adopting telemedicine on the length of the interval between two related visits, namely, the related visit interval (RVI).

Our results show that physicians schedule related visits with shorter RVIs in the short term after adopting telemedicine. As a result, physicians can admit more patients to their panel as they adopt telemedicine for a longer time. Thus, in the long run, adoption of telemedicine results in experiencing a heavier workload and scheduling related visits with longer RVIs. The adoption effect is also spilled over to the scheduling decision made during in-office visits with a decrease in RVI length in the short term and an increase in the long term. Furthermore, we show that physicians tend to schedule more frequent follow-up visits after a telemedicine visit due to the uncertainty in a patient’s health status in a remote visit. This study sheds light on the benefits and unintended consequences of adopting telemedicine as this mode of service becomes more widely utilized.

Note:
Funding Information: MISSING

Conflict of Interests: MISSING

Keywords: Telemedicine, multi-period changes-in-changes, mental health, healthcare delivery

Suggested Citation

Li, Maggie (Manqi) and Nassiri, Shima and Liu, Xiang and Ellimoottil, Chandy, How Does Telemedicine Shape Physician’s Practice in Mental Health? (January 15, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3766619 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3766619

Maggie (Manqi) Li (Contact Author)

Renmin University of China - School of Business ( email )

Beijing
China

Shima Nassiri

University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )

701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI MI 48109
United States
7346473308 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/shima-nassiri/home

Xiang Liu

Tsinghua University - Department of Industrial Engineering ( email )

Beijing
China

Chandy Ellimoottil

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Department of Urology ( email )

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