Telehealth Utilization Increased Nationally and in Every US Census Region in November

Telehealth Utilization Increased by over Five Percent in Three out of Four Regions; Utilization for Acute Respiratory Diseases Increased Significantly in All Regions

Diabetes Mellitus Joined the Rankings of Top Five Telehealth Diagnoses in the South in November, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Telehealth utilization increased nationally and in every US census region in November 2023, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. The widespread increases followed a month of varied changes in October. In November, national utilization increased 6.3 percent, climbing from 4.8 percent of medical claim lines in October to 5.1 percent in November.¹ The largest regional increase occurred in the West, where the percentage of medical claim lines increased 7.5 percent, while in the South the increase was 5.3 percent. In the Northeast, utilization rose 5.2 percent and, in the Midwest, the increase was 2.9 percent. The data represent the privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage and excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid.

Top Five Telehealth Diagnoses
In the South, for the first time, diabetes mellitus joined the top five telehealth diagnoses in November, in fifth place with 1.6 percent of telehealth claim lines. In that region, encounter for examination dropped out of the top five and hypertension took its place in third position, up from fourth place in October.

Nationally, in November 2023, the top five telehealth diagnoses were the same as in October, though the percentage of claim lines for mental health conditions (the number one diagnosis) dropped from 67.1 percent to 66.4 percent. The decrease in percentage for mental health conditions seen on the national level was also evident in all four census regions, though mental health conditions remained in first place everywhere. Conversely, acute respiratory diseases and infections, which remained in second place nationally and in the South, Northeast and Midwest, increased in its share of claim lines from October to November nationally and in all regions. Nationally, the increase was from 2.9 percent to 3.7 percent. In the West, that diagnosis moved up from fourth place in October to third place in November.

In the Midwest and Northeast, COVID-19 reentered the rankings in fourth place in November with 1.3 percent of telehealth claim lines in both regions.

Asynchronous Telehealth
The national top five asynchronous telehealth² diagnoses remained the same in November as they were in October, with hypertension still holding the number one position. The percentage of asynchronous telehealth claim lines for that diagnosis continued to decrease nationally, falling from 24.3 percent in October to 23.3 percent in November. Regionally, however, the trends varied. A decrease in the percentage of asynchronous telehealth claim lines associated with hypertension occurred in the South, where it remained ranked in second place, but in the other regions, where hypertension still ranked number one, there were increases.

Asynchronous telehealth claim lines associated with mental health conditions, diabetes mellitus and urinary tract infections—in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the national top five—all showed decreases in November. Acute respiratory diseases and infections, in second place, however, continued an increase begun in September, rising from 15.8 percent in October to 19.6 percent in November.

Audio-Only Telehealth Usage
In November 2023, utilization of audio-only telehealth services increased nationally and in every region. The increase was 5.4 percent in rural areas and 6.4 percent in urban areas nationally; audio-only use rose from 5.6 to 5.9 percent of telehealth claim lines in rural areas and from 4.7 to 5.0 percent in urban areas. Regionally, urban areas showed a greater increase than rural areas everywhere except the Northeast.

As in previous months, rural areas showed higher utilization than urban areas nationally and in every region except the South, where the pattern was reversed.

Telehealth Cost Corner
For November 2023, the Telehealth Cost Corner spotlighted the cost of CPT^®3 92507, treatment of speech, language, voice, communication and/or hearing processing disorder. Nationally, the median charge amount for this service when rendered via telehealth was $130.66, and the median allowed amount was $78.29.⁴ The median charge amount varied from a high of $150.00 in the Midwest to a low of $125.00 in the Northeast. The median allowed amount varied from a high of $93.48 in the Midwest to a low of $69.37 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 44 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 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