Telehealth Use Shot Up 10.2% Nationally in May
Telehealth utilization increased by 10.2 percent in May, occupying 5.4 percent of all medical claim lines, according to new data.
For the second month in a row, the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker reported an increase in telehealth use at the national level and in all US census regions.
The tracker is a service assessing changes in telehealth activity monthly by tracking various metrics such as claim lines, procedure codes, and diagnostic categories. The population that the tracker covers is privately insured, including Medicare Advantage members, but it does not include Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid beneficiaries.
Several years into the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth plays an increasingly significant role in healthcare.
The January release of the FAIR Health Monthly Regional Telehealth Tracker reported an increase in telehealth utilization throughout all US regions for the third month in a row. There was an increase in COVID-19 cases in early 2022, which likely contributed to the uptick in telehealth usage.
In May, national telehealth use continued to increase, jumping 10.2 percent. The share of telehealth-related medical claim lines rose from 4.9 percent in April to 5.4 percent in May.
COVID-19 rose to second place on the national top five telehealth diagnoses list, one higher than the spot it occupied last month. The COVID-19 diagnosis also rose from fourth to second place in the Midwest, from non-listed to third place in the South, and from fifth to second place in the West. COVID-19 sustained its second place position on the top five telehealth diagnoses list in the Northeast.
The South, however, experienced various changes in other diagnoses on the list in May. Compared to April, encounters for examination, hypertension, and developmental disorders disappeared from the top five diagnoses list and were replaced by COVID-19, skin issues, and urinary tract infections.
Regarding provider specialties that used telehealth the most, there were no changes aside from psychiatrists dropping from fourth to fifth place in the Midwest.
The May report of the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker also showed that the No. 1 telehealth procedure code at the national and regional level remained CPT 90837 one-hour psychotherapy.
Researchers have observed that the high use of telehealth corresponds to the increases in COVID-19 cases.
In November 2021, COVID-19 occupied a spot on the top five telehealth diagnoses list. That same month, the tracker reported a 7.3 percent increase in telehealth usage. Researchers suspected that both factors were influenced by the detection of the Omicron variant that occurred around the same time.
In the following month of December 2021, telehealth use increased by 11.4 percent nationally, with a 0.5 percent increase in telehealth-related medical claim lines.
