Telehealth Usage Remains Stable in September, COVID-19 Diagnoses Decline

FAIR Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker reported no change in telehealth usage in September compared with August and noted that COVID-19 fell in its rankings on top telehealth diagnoses lists in all regions and at the national level.

The FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker is a complimentary service that analyzes how telehealth activity and use change monthly by tracking various factors such as claim lines, procedure codes, and diagnostic categories. It represents the privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage but excluding Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicaid beneficiaries.

Throughout the earlier and more intense phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker highlighted the prominence of the disease as well as sharp increases in telehealth use.

For example, in January, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 progressed nationwide. Alongside this surge, the tracker reported an increase in telehealth use in every US census region for the third month in a row. It also noted that COVID-19 was ranked second or third on the top telehealth diagnoses list in all regions and nationally.

In September, however, the tracker indicated that telehealth utilization occurred at a steadier rate and that COVID-19 was not as prominent on the list of diagnoses. Between August and September, telehealth’s share did not change, occupying 5.4 percent of all medical claim lines in both months. With regard to regional statistics, the tracker showed that telehealth use did not change in the Midwest and West, but it increased by 3.4 percent in the Northeast and dropped by 2.2 percent in the South from August to September.

Regarding top telehealth diagnoses, the tracker noted that acute respiratory diseases and infections became more prominent. At the national level and in the Midwest, diagnoses for these illnesses went from third to second place. In the West, it went from fifth to fourth place. In the Northeast, it went from not being on the diagnoses list to third place. In the South, however, acute respiratory diseases and infections held second place.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 fell from second to third place in the top telehealth diagnoses rankings nationally and the Midwest. It fell from third to fifth place in the South and from third place out of the rankings in the West. But COVID-19 maintained its second-place position in the Northeast.

In September, the rankings of the top five specialties that used telehealth did not change at the national level or in any region. Social workers held their spot as number one on every list.

Procedure codes also did not experience any changes. At the national level and in every region, CPT 90837, one-hour psychotherapy, remained No. 1.

In recent times, telehealth has been reflective of COVID-19 case trends and patient preferences.

In March, the tracker reported that telehealth use fell for the second month in a row and occupied a smaller portion of medical claim lines. Researchers noted that this decline in telehealth use may have partially been due to the decrease in the severity of COVID-19 cases at the time.

Further, a comprehensive analysis of FAIR Health data since January 2020 showed that mental health conditions had been the most common telehealth diagnoses at the national level. Relatedly, three of the top five provider specialties using telehealth nationally and in every region were social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists.