Dive Brief:
- COVID-19 diagnoses made via telehealth appointments declined nationally and in most regions from August to September, according to Fair Health’s monthly tracker.
- Nationally, COVID-19 diagnoses declined and the Northeast was the only region where COVID-19 diagnoses remained relatively unchanged. COVID-19 diagnoses declined in the Midwest, South, and West regions.
- Mental health telehealth diagnoses remained the dominant diagnostic condition, comprising 66% of surveyed claims.
Dive Insight:
The virtual COVID-19 diagnsaes reflect a larger U.S. trend of declining coronavirus cases. As of Nov, 30, the seven-day average of weekly cases was down 1.2% from the previous week, with 43,300 new cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Telehealth use has remained steady this year and did not change nationally from August to September, again accounting for 5.4% of all medical claims, according to Fair Health.
The tracker surveys data covering claims for patients on private insurance, including Medicare Advantage and excluding Medicare fee-for-service and Medicaid.
Regionally, telehealth use did not change in the Midwest and West. It rose 3.4% in the Northeast and fell 2.2% in the South.
Telehealth use remained steady this year
Among top diagnoses, acute respiratory diseases and infections rose nationally and in most regions during the period.
Social workers remained the top telehealth specialty nationally and in every region.
Likewise, top procedure codes did not change nationally or in any region, with one-hour of psychotherapy continuing to hold the top spot.