Researchers at RAND Corporation Release New Data on Telemedicine (Differences In Telehealth During Covid-19 Between Commercial and Medicaid Enrollees): Telemedicine

2023 APR 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Daily -- Investigators publish new report on Telemedicine. According to news reporting originating in Santa Monica, California, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To compare how in-person evaluation and management (E&M) visits and telehealth use differed during the COVID-19 pandemic between commercially insured and Medicaid enrollees, and to assess how insurance plan type-fee-for-service (FFS) vs managed care (MC)-and enrollee characteristics contributed to these differences. Retrospective cohort analysis of 2019 and 2020 data from the commercially insured California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California Medicaid program (Medi-Cal).”

Funders for this research include California Health Care Foundation, National Institute on Aging, Whaley.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from RAND Corporation, “We conducted unadjusted comparisons of per capita E&M visits and the share of visits conducted via telehealth by payer (CalPERS vs Medi-Cal) and plan type (FFS vs MC). We estimated linear regressions of telehealth use that adjusted for patient demographics, rurality, and internet access. Among Medi-Cal enrollees, we examined telehealth use differences based on race, language, and citizenship status.Regression-adjusted share of telehealth visits as a proportion of all E&M visits was 22.6% for CalPERS FFS patients (the reference group), 38.2% for Medi-Cal FFS patients, 46.0% for Medi-Cal MC patients, and 53.5% for CalPERS MC patients. Among Medi-Cal enrollees, telehealth use as a share of all E&M visits was higher among Spanish speakers, female enrollees, and rural enrollees. Across most demographic characteristics, Medi-Cal patients enrolled in FFS were less likely to receive telehealth compared with those enrolled in MC.During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, California MC enrollees had higher rates of telehealth use compared with FFS enrollees, regardless of insurer. Among FFS enrollees, those enrolled in Medicaid had higher rates of telehealth use compared with those insured by CalPERS.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Telehealth policies should be aware of this heterogeneity, as well as its implications for equity of telehealth access.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Differences In Telehealth During Covid-19 Between Commercial and Medicaid Enrollees. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2023;29(1). The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Christopher M. Whaley, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States. Additional authors for this research include Risha Gidwani, Lori Uscher-Pines and Aaron Kofner.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2023.89300. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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