Telehealth Visits at Community Health Centers Rose to 21% in 2021

Telehealth visits spiked at community health centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, representing 21 percent of total visits in 2021 compared with less than 1 percent of visits in 2019, a recent report revealed.

Released by the Kaiser Family Foundation last month, the report details changes in community health center visit volumes and services from 2019 through 2021. Researchers analyzed data from the Uniform Data System, which all community health centers must report to annually.

Community health centers are safety-net primary care providers serving low-income and medically underserved communities, according to the report. They have played a key role during the COVID-19 public health emergency, offering various services, like vaccinations, to vulnerable communities.

The number of community health center visits dropped in 2020 but grew in 2021, supported by the increase in telehealth use.

Community health center visits totaled 122.8 million in 2019, of which about 478,000 (less than 1 percent) were virtual visits. In 2020, total visits declined to 114.2 million, but telehealth use shot up, with 28.5 million visits conducted via telehealth. Total community health center visits rose to 124.2 million in 2021, with 26.1 million (21 percent) occurring through telehealth.

Medical and mental health services at community health centers appear to have benefitted most from the implementation of telehealth. In contrast, other services, such as dental and vision, that could not shift easily to the virtual arena experienced declines in visit volumes.

From 2019 through 2021, total visits for medical services ranged from 81.3 million to 83.4 million, with a slight dip in 2020 to 78.2 million. Telehealth use bolstered visit volume in 2020 and 2021, accounting for 18.5 million and 15.2 million visits, respectively, up from about 130,000 in 2019.

Total visits for integrated mental health services grew from 20.6 million in 2019 to 22.9 million in 2020. It then grew further to 24.5 million in 2021. Virtually enabled mental health visits totaled about 279,000 in 2019 but jumped to 9.7 million in 2020 and 10.1 million in 2021.

Similarly, overall visits related to integrated substance use disorder services mostly stayed the same, ranging from 6.6 million to 6.7 million between 2019 and 2021. But the number of visits conducted via telehealth grew, rising from about 34,000 in 2019 to approximately 2 million in 2020 and 2021.

Meanwhile, dental and vision service-related visits, which were primarily provided in person, were still below the pre-pandemic baseline by 20 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in 2021.

Telehealth use at community health centers received a significant boost last year. In February 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to provide $55 million in new funds to various community health centers to support the adoption and use of virtual care resources.

Specifically, the funds were provided to support telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other digitally enabled services at 29 health centers funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

But the future of telehealth use at community health centers remains unclear because, currently, the flexibilities that enabled the rise in use have only been extended through 2024. The 2022 year-end legislative package included a two-year extension for Medicare telehealth flexibilities, allowing federally qualified and rural health centers to continue providing telehealth services.