Telehealth Utilization Decreased Nationally and in Every US Census Region in December

While Mental Health Conditions Remained the Number One Diagnosis Nationally and in Every Region, It Declined in Its Percentage of Claim Lines Everywhere, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker

Audio-Only Telehealth Services Increased in Every Region Nationally, Both in Urban and Rural Areas

NEW YORK, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Telehealth utilization decreased nationally and in every US census region in December 2023, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. The decreases followed a month of increases nationally and in every region in November. In December, national utilization declined 3.9 percent, falling from 5.1 percent of medical claim lines in November to 4.9 percent in December.¹ The largest regional decrease occurred in the West, where the percentage of medical claim lines fell 9.7 percent. In the Northeast the decrease was 3.3 percent; in the Midwest it was 2.9 percent and, in the South, 2.5 percent. The data represent the privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage and excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid.

Top Five Telehealth Diagnoses
In December, for the first time since September, COVID-19 joined the rankings of the top five telehealth diagnoses nationally, entering in third place. COVID-19 also joined the rankings in fifth place in the South and fourth place in the West. Already among the top five telehealth diagnoses in the Midwest and Northeast in November, COVID-19 rose in the rankings from fourth to third place in December in both regions.

In December, mental health conditions remained the number one telehealth diagnosis nationally and in every region, though it continued to decline in its percentage of telehealth claim lines everywhere. In the West, acute respiratory diseases and infections moved from third place in November to second place in December. This was the same rank occupied by this diagnosis in the other three regions and nationally in both November and December.

Asynchronous Telehealth
Nationally in December, among the top five telehealth diagnoses via asynchronous telehealth,² acute respiratory diseases moved from second to first place, while hypertension fell from first to second place. Hypertension remained in first place in the Northeast, Midwest and West and in second place in the South, although the percentage of asynchronous telehealth claim lines for hypertension decreased in the Midwest, South, West and nationally.

Viral infections and diseases entered the asynchronous telehealth rankings in the South in fifth place, replacing diabetes mellitus. In the West, diabetes mellitus rose from fourth to third place.

Audio-Only Telehealth Usage
In December 2023, utilization of audio-only telehealth services increased nationally and in every region, in both rural and urban areas.

As in previous months, utilization of audio-only telehealth was higher in rural areas than urban areas nationally and in every region except the South, where the pattern was reversed.  

Telehealth Cost Corner
For December, the Telehealth Cost Corner spotlighted the cost of CPT^®3 90791, psychiatric diagnostic evaluation. Nationally, the median charge amount for this service when rendered via telehealth was $215.34, and the median allowed amount was $128.41.⁴ The median charge amount varied from a high of $225.00 in the Midwest and West to a low of $200.00 in the Northeast. The median allowed amount varied from a high of $141.93 in the Midwest to a low of $123.76 in the South.

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 year, the infographic introduces varied views into telehealth utilization. In this fourth iteration of the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, each infographic shows month-to-month changes in volume of telehealth claim lines and audio-only telehealth usage (urban versus rural); the Telehealth Cost Corner, which presents a specific telehealth procedure code with its median charge amount and median allowed amount; and that month's top five telehealth diagnoses and top five diagnoses via asynchronous telehealth.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd stated: "We welcome sharing these varying windows into telehealth utilization as it continues to evolve. 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 45 billion claim records and is growing at a rate of over 3 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, which accounts for a separate collection of over 47 billion claim records; 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 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 A claim line is an individual service or procedure listed on an insurance claim.
² Asynchronous telehealth is telehealth in which data are stored and forwarded (e.g., blood pressure or other cardiac-related readings transmitted electronically; A1c levels transmitted electronically).
³ CPT © 2023 American Medical Association (AMA). All rights reserved.
⁴ A charge amount is the provider's undiscounted fee, which a patient may have to pay when the patient is uninsured, or when the patient chooses to go to a provider who does not belong to the patient's plan's network. An allowed amount is the total negotiated, in-network fee paid to the provider under an insurance plan. It includes the amount that the health plan pays and the part the patient pays under the plan's in-network cost-sharing provisions (e.g., copay or coinsurance if the patient has met the deductible).

SOURCE FAIR Health