10 Reasons Your Doctor Won't Text You

When it comes to what patients want from eCare technologies and what doctors provide, there is a big gap. For example, in a recent survey, 27% of respondents said their doctor had a nurse-manned advice line, but only 14% said it was available 24/7. Thirteen percent said their physician had evening and weekend hours, while another 37% said they wanted that service. Despite the noise, most docs are not buying into the telehype. Why?

1. They don't think it adds value.

2. It cost too much and generates too little revenue.

3. They already waste too much time doing chart scut work.

4. They don't get sales and marketing.

5. There is little or no incentive to do it.

6. There is no alignment with their employer's desire for their doctors to do it.

7. They are afraid they will get sued.

8. They are resistant to change or technophobes.

9. They don't agree with patients that it makes a difference in outcomes.

10. They don't care about the patient experience, service, convenience or user preference.

Doctors, like everyone else, buy emotionally and justify rationally.

Every state and payor are challenged by how to pay for telemedicine services. But, this is only the opening salvo in a bigger battle over how and whether to pay for digital health services like mobile communications, analyzing remote sensing data, spending time doing population analytics and much more.

Pay-to-text might move the needle, but, for now, doctors are finding it hard to swallow and shoving it down their throats is unlikely to change things.