National Telehealth Utilization Declined Nearly Seven Percent in October 2021

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After two months of growth, national telehealth utilization declined in October 2021, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. Telehealth utilization, measured as a percentage of all medical claim lines,¹ fell 6.8 percent nationally from September to October 2021, decreasing from 4.4 percent of medical claim lines in September to 4.1 percent in October. By comparison, telehealth utilization rose approximately two percent nationally in each of the months August and September. The data represent the privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage and excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid.

A decline in telehealth utilization was seen in all regions in October but the Northeast, where telehealth utilization remained stable at 4.8 percent of medical claim lines. The greatest decline, 11.4 percent, occurred in the South.

From September to October 2021, mental health conditions, which remained the top-ranking telehealth diagnosis nationally and in every region, increased in percentage share of all telehealth claim lines nationally (by 1.5 percent) and in every region. Similarly, the procedure code CPT^®2 90837, 60-minute psychotherapy, increased as a share of all telehealth claim lines nationally and in every region by about one percent, while remaining the top-ranking procedure code nationally and in every region.

In October 2021, COVID-19 dropped out of the top five telehealth diagnoses in the Midwest, the only region where it had ranked in the top five in September. As a result, COVID-19 was no longer in the top five telehealth diagnoses nationally or in any region in October. In that same month, substance use disorders joined the top five at number four in the Midwest. The Midwest joined the Northeast in having that condition among its top five telehealth diagnoses.

In October 2021 in the South, encounter for examination joined the top five telehealth diagnoses at number three, while joint/soft tissue diseases and issues dropped out of the top five.

About the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker
Launched in May 2020 as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving from month to month. An interactive map of the four 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. Each infographic shows month-to-month changes in volume of telehealth claim lines, top five telehealth procedure codes and top five telehealth diagnoses (or diagnostic categories), along with that month's top five granular diagnoses within the most common diagnostic category.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "As the COVID-19 pandemic and telehealth utilization continue to evolve, FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker serves as a window into that evolution. This is one of the many ways we pursue our healthcare transparency mission."

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 private healthcare claims data, which includes over 35 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 2 billion claim records a year. FAIR Health licenses its privately billed 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; FAIR Health includes among the private 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 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. FAIR Health also is named a top resource for patients in Dr. Marty Makary's book The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care—and How to Fix It and Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal's book An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. For more information on FAIR Health, visit fairhealth.org.

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

¹ A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.
² CPT © 2021 American Medical Association (AMA). All rights reserved.

SOURCE FAIR Health