National Telehealth Use Dropped 6.8% in February

Following a consecutive three-month growth period, telehealth use experienced a decline in February across all US regions and nationally, along with a slight drop in its share of medical claim lines, according to the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker.

The FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker is a service that analyzes how telehealth use changes month to month. It tracks various factors such as claim lines, procedure codes, and diagnostic categories, representing a population that includes privately insured and Medicare Advantage patients but excludes Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid beneficiaries.

Throughout the peak stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person care restrictions led to sharp increases in telehealth use. For example, between November and December 2021, the surge resulting from the Omicron variant of the disease led to a national increase in telehealth use.

Since then, national and regional telehealth has experienced changes in use across regions, diagnoses, and specialties.

FAIR Health data for January 2023 showed gains for telehealth use, which increased by 7.3 percent nationally and rose by 9.5 percent in the Midwest, 9.5 percent in the West, 6.7 percent in the South, and 3.2 percent in the Northeast.

However, a 6.8 percent drop in telehealth use at the national level occurred in February, with all four US Census regions experiencing declines as well. In the Midwest, South, West, and Northeast, telehealth use dropped by 8.7 percent, 8.3 percent, 6.2 percent, and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The February tracker also shows that COVID-19 did not appear on the top five telehealth diagnoses list nationally or in any US region.

At the national level and in all regions, mental health conditions were the most common diagnosis. The tracker also indicated that this diagnosis occupied a 0.8 percent higher share of telehealth claim lines compared to the month prior. Meanwhile, in the Midwest, sleep disorders appeared in fifth place on the diagnoses list, causing encounter for examination to drop off.

Regarding asynchronous telehealth that took place across US regions in February, hypertension rose from second place to the most common diagnosis in the Northeast and Midwest. Nationally, hypertension retained the second rank on the top diagnoses list for asynchronous telehealth. In the West and the South, this condition held the fourth place, the same spot as the month prior.

Another change in asynchronous telehealth diagnoses in February was mental health conditions falling from third to fourth place on the national diagnoses list.

Audio-only telehealth use also experienced changes in February. At the national level as well as in the Northeast and South, use rates for this type of telehealth dropped. In the Midwest and rural parts of the West, however, it increased.

The tracker also indicated that audio-only telehealth use was generally higher in rural areas compared to urban areas. But in the South, this type of telehealth made up 10.1 and 5.5 percent of telehealth claim lines in urban and rural areas, respectively.