A growing number of consumers want more access to digital healthcare services, but so far healthcare providers aren’t delivering as many online services as patients want.

That’s the chief takeaway of a new survey of 1,501 U.S. consumers from consulting firm Accenture. About three-quarters of respondents noted they would use virtual services to track health indicators such as blood pressure, pulse and glucose levels. 76% of consumers also would schedule appointments online and 70% say they would conduct a digital office visit for treatment of a non-urgent health issue such as a rash or a sore throat.

But despite the feedback from consumers wanting more digital healthcare tools to personalize and manage their health and wellness, only 21% of respondents so far are receiving care online or using digital healthcare tools widely. Those metrics suggest that many healthcare care providers still are not offering such digital tools or educating patients on how to use them, Accenture says.

“Consumers are clear: In the 21^st century, 20^th century healthcare is not good enough,” says Accenture managing director of virtual health services Frances Dare. “Technology-enabled services will be equally important as traditional in-person services, allowing the modern patient to choose when and how they receive health and care services.”

Consumers today want a combination of in-person and virtual health services, Accenture says. 78% of consumers surveyed indicated they would be interested in receiving healthcare virtually some or most of the time. Therefore, the research suggests, health systems need to balance and integrate virtual and in-person services with the varying degrees to which consumers see themselves as being in charge of their own health, both today (cited by 85% of respondents) and by 51% if they become ill or injured, according to the Accenture survey.

Other survey findings include:

• At 37% convenience is the top reason consumers would use digital healthcare tools.
• 44% of consumers noted they would be more likely to “try virtual” if encouraged by a physician compared with 31% if encouraged to do so by a healthcare payer.

“Given evolving consumer attitudes toward virtual care, making virtual health a priority could be a boon for provider organizations that are resource- and finance-constrained,” Dare says. “As more and more patients take control of their own healthcare in the age of consumerism, provider organizations must be able to offer meaningful choices for virtual care, in-person care and a combination of both.”