Abstract

Purpose: The primary purpose of this research was to explore individuals born in the millennial generation’s likelihood of using telehealth and virtual office visits as a replacement for face to face provider interactions. The secondary purpose was to examine the feasibility and access of treatable conditions and ailments in a virtual environment.

Methods: A literature review exploring millennials and telehealth was performed using various databases with search terms combined to include: ‘millennials*’, ‘telehealth*’, ‘telemed*’, ‘finance*’, ‘primary care*’, ‘healthcare*’, ‘health knowledge*’, ‘literacy*’, ‘education*’, ‘misinformation*’. The data was conformed into tables that synthesized the relationship between the millennial generation and their access to telehealth and virtual office visits.

Results: An initial search of literature returned 72 articles that met search criteria. In total, 10 articles were chosen for synthesis and relevance to the topic. After further review, a total of 10 articles were chosen for synthesis and relevance to the topic. The results suggest the use of telehealth as a virtual office visit in place of face to face interaction have limited applications at this time. The severity of conditions used by millennial’s for telehealth ranged from mild symptomatic conditions, such as the common cold, to moderate symptomatic conditions, such as sore throat and gastrointestinal discomfort. Millennial populations are more likely to use telehealth and virtual office visits based on their increased proficiency and use of technology; however this does not translate into actual use of technology for health-related conditions. Millennials likelihood of embracing telehealth and virtual office visits is related to convenience and timeliness of care, as well as trust in the provider established through web-based reviews and ratings offered by other telehealth users. Cost is not as beneficial as originally anticipated. Factors regarding safety and privacy through mobile applications and online portals are untested.

Thesis Completion

2020

Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair/Advisor

D'Amato Kubiet, Leslee

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)

College

College of Nursing

Department

Nursing

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

5-1-2020

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