FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker Enters Sixth Year

Mental Health Conditions Accounted for Nearly 60 Percent of Patients with a Telehealth Claim Nationally in January 2025

New Features Include Percent of Patients with a Telehealth Claim, Procedure Categories and Urban versus Rural Telehealth Usage

NEW YORK, April 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- With the release of January 2025 data this month, FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker enters its sixth year of reporting on the evolution of telehealth from month to month. As before, a free, interactive map of the US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in the nation as a whole or in individual regions.

This sixth year brings notable changes to the Telehealth Tracker. In 2024, all charts in the infographics were based on claim lines, the individual services or procedures listed on an insurance claim. Beginning in January 2025, most of the charts are based not on claim lines but on commercially insured patients with a telehealth claim. These include three entirely new charts: top five procedure categories; urban versus rural telehealth usage; and percent of patients with a telehealth claim. Also included are top five diagnostic categories and age distribution, which this year captures the percentage of patients within each age group with a telehealth claim. One chart in 2025, as in 2024, still shows changes in telehealth's percentage of medical claim lines from month to month.

Among the key findings for January 2025:

Diagnostic Categories
In January 2025, mental health conditions constituted the top diagnostic category nationally and in every region. This category accounted for 58.5 percent of patients with a telehealth claim nationally. Regionally, the percentage varied from 65.0 percent in the Midwest to 53.1 percent in the South.

The second most common diagnostic category nationally and in every region in January was acute respiratory diseases and infections. This category accounted for 4.1 percent of patients with a telehealth claim nationally. Regionally, the percentage varied from 5.2 percent in the South to 3.2 percent in the Midwest.

Overweight and obesity ranked third most common diagnostic category in the Midwest and Northeast in January.

Utilization
The percentage of patients with a telehealth claim increased nationally and in all four US census regions from December 2024 to January 2025. Nationally, the percentage rose from 14.5 percent in December to 14.9 percent in January, an increase of 2.6 percent. Regional increases varied from 1.6 percent in the West to 4.5 percent in the Midwest.

During the same period, telehealth claim lines increased as a percentage of all medical claim lines nationally and in every region except the South. Nationally, the percentage rose from 5.0 percent in December to 5.1 percent in January, an increase of 1.7 percent. Regional increases varied from 8.8 percent in the Northeast to 4.5 percent in the West. In the South, however, the percentage decreased 1.5 percent.

Urban versus Rural
In January 2025, telehealth utilization was higher in urban than rural areas nationally and in all four regions.¹ Nationally, 15.0 percent of patients with a telehealth claim were located in urban areas, compared to 8.0 percent in rural areas. The largest difference occurred in the West, where the percentage of urban patients using telehealth (19.0 percent) was more than double the percentage of rural patients (8.5 percent). The smallest difference was found in the Northeast, where the urban share (16.9 percent) was 1.4 times the rural share (12.1 percent).

Age Distribution
In January 2025, the age groups 19-30 and 31-40 accounted for the largest percentages of patients with a telehealth claim nationally and in every region. On the national level, 23.6 percent of patients in the age group 19-30 had a telehealth claim, and 23.2 percent of patients in the age group 31-40 had a telehealth claim. Nationally and in every region, the age groups 0-9 and 65 and older accounted for the smallest shares of patients with a telehealth claim.

Procedure Categories
In January 2025, established patient office or other outpatient services, and psychotherapy services and procedures, were the top two procedure categories nationally and in every region. The order of the two, however, varied by region. Nationally and in the South and West, established patient office or other outpatient services ranked first; in the Midwest and Northeast, psychotherapy services and procedures ranked first. On the national level, established patient office or other outpatient services (including those for mental health conditions) accounted for 50.6 percent of patients with a telehealth claim, while psychotherapy services and procedures accounted for 44.2 percent.

For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here.

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About FAIR Health
FAIR Health is a national, independent nonprofit organization that qualifies as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the federal tax code. It is dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health systems research support. FAIR Health possesses the nation's largest collection of commercial healthcare claims data, which includes over 50 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 3 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its commercial data and data products—including benchmark modules, data visualizations, custom analytics and market indices—to commercial insurers and self-insurers, employers, providers, hospitals and healthcare systems, government agencies, researchers and others. Certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a national Qualified Entity, FAIR Health also receives data representing the experience of all individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare Parts A, B and D, which accounts for a separate collection of over 50 billion claim records; FAIR Health includes among the commercial claims data in its database, data on Medicare Advantage enrollees. FAIR Health can produce insightful analytic reports and data products based on combined Medicare and commercial claims data for government, providers, payors and other authorized users. FAIR Health's systems for processing and storing protected health information have earned HITRUST CSF certification and achieved AICPA SOC 2 Type 2 compliance by meeting the rigorous data security requirements of these standards. As a testament to the reliability and objectivity of FAIR Health data, the data have been incorporated in statutes and regulations around the country and designated as the official, neutral data source for a variety of state health programs, including workers' compensation and personal injury protection (PIP) programs. FAIR Health data serve as an official reference point in support of certain state balance billing laws that protect consumers against bills for surprise out-of-network and emergency services. FAIR Health also uses its database to power a free consumer website available in English and Spanish, which enables consumers to estimate and plan for their healthcare expenditures and offers a rich educational platform on health insurance. An English/Spanish mobile app offers the same educational platform in a concise format and links to the cost estimation tools. The website has been honored by the White House Summit on Smart Disclosure, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), URAC, the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, appPicker, Employee Benefit News and Kiplinger's Personal Finance. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

Contact:
Rachel Kent
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
FAIR Health
646-396-0795
[email protected]

¹ Each telehealth service was attributed to a rural/urban designation in a region based on the patient's medical service area, which FAIR Health determines based on the unique geographical pattern of services utilized by the patient.

SOURCE FAIR Health