While 2016 saw an increase of 46 percent in outpatient days with telemedicine visits than the year prior, telemedicine still represents less than one percent of total outpatient visits. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Telemedicine has been touted as a breakthrough in health care access, giving patients who, for one reason or another, can't see a doctor in person, access via video conferencing or remote monitoring. And while a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows more employers are paying for such services, another report suggest that enrollment has been relatively low.

The 2018 Employer Health Benefit Survey finds that employers covering telemedicine has jumped from 27 percent in 2015 to 74 percent in 2018. Large employers, those with 5,000 workers or more, are most likely to cover telemedicine (83 percent) while smaller firms, those with 50 to 199 workers are least likely (65 percent).

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