Telehealth Use Rose Almost 4% Percent Nationally in December

March 09, 2023 - At the close of 2022, telehealth use increased at the national level, growing in three out of four US census regions, according to the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker.

The FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker is a free service that analyzes how the use of telehealth changes monthly by tracking various factors such as claim lines, procedure codes, and diagnostic categories. The population the data is based on 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, data from the FAIR Health Tracker indicated sharp increases in telehealth use.

For example, in January 2022, the COVID-19 Omicron variant led to a 10-percent increase in telehealth use in all US census regions for the third month in a row.

However, as the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to diminish, the tracker data indicates more minor changes in telehealth use, though the end of last year saw a nearly 4 percent jump.

In December, national telehealth use increased by 3.8 percent compared to November, occupying 5.5 percent of medical claim lines. This share was higher than the month prior, when telehealth accounted for 5.3 percent of medical claim lines. The tracker also indicated that telehealth use increased in the South by 7.1 percent, in the Midwest by 5 percent, and in the Northeast by 3.3 percent. In the West, telehealth use remained unchanged.

Regarding telehealth diagnoses, COVID-19 held the third-place spot in all regions and at the national level, the same as its rank in November. But COVID-19 diagnoses increased in percentage share of telehealth claim lines nationally and in all regions.

Other prominent diagnoses include acute respiratory diseases and infections, remaining in second place in all regions and nationally. While this diagnosis has held the second-place spot since October, it has continued to grow in percentage share of telehealth claim lines at the national level as well as in the Northeast and South.

The December data release from the tracker also noted that the previously unranked 'encounter for examination' appeared on the top diagnoses list in the South at fifth place.

Regarding specialties, there were no reported changes. Social workers held their spot in first place in all regions. However, their percentage share of telehealth claim lines fell in all regions except the Northeast.

The second-place specialty on all lists was primary care physicians. Use of telehealth within this specialty experienced an increase in the percentage share of telehealth claim lines nationally and in all four regions.

When comparing the tracker data from November and December 2022 with the prior 10 months, there were no changes in the top five telehealth procedure codes. The telehealth procedure code that held the No. 1 spot in all regions and nationally was CPT 90837, one-hour psychotherapy.

The tracker did, however, note that CPT 90837 and CPT 90834, 45-minute psychotherapy, dropped in percentage share of telehealth claim lines in most regions and nationally.

The tracker data aligns with survey results released by Rock Health last month, which shows that several groups that typically have low telehealth use rates experienced increases in 2022.

According to the Rock Health survey, 80 percent of respondents claimed to have received care through telehealth at some time, which represents an 8-percentage point increase from the year prior.

They also noted that telehealth use grew across various traditionally underserved groups, such as those 55 and older, rural residents, and those without health insurance.