Study Results from University of Pennsylvania Provide New Insights into Telemedicine (Telemedicine Catches On: Changes In the Utilization of Telemedicine Services During the Covid-19 Pandemic): Telemedicine

2022 FEB 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Telemedicine. According to news reporting originating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To determine the degree of telemedicine expansion overall and across patient subpopulations and diagnoses. We hypothesized that telemedicine visits would increase substantially due to the need for continuity of care despite the disruptive effects of COVID-19.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Pennsylvania, “A retrospective study of health insurance claims for telemedicine visits from January 1, 2018, through March 10, 2020 (prepandemic period), and March 11, 2020, through October 31, 2020 (pandemic period). We analyzed claims from 1,589,777 telemedicine visits that were submitted to Independence Blue Cross (Independence) from telemedicine-only providers and providers who traditionally deliver care in person. The primary exposure was the combination of individual behavior changes, state stay-at-home orders, and the Independence expansion of billing policies for telemedicine. The comparison population consisted of telemedicine visits in the prepandemic period. Telemedicine increased rapidly from a mean (SD) of 773 (155) weekly visits in prepandemic 2020 to 45,632 (19,937) weekly visits in the pandemic period. During the pandemic period, a greater proportion of telemedicine users were older, had Medicare Advantage insurance plans, had existing chronic conditions, or resided in predominantly non-Hispanic Black or African American Census tracts compared with during the prepandemic period. A significant increase in telemedicine claims containing a mental health- related diagnosis was observed. Telemedicine expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic across a broad range of clinical conditions and demographics. Although levels declined later in 2020, telemedicine utilization remained markedly higher than 2019 and 2018 levels.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Trends suggest that telemedicine will likely play a key role in postpandemic care delivery.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Telemedicine Catches On: Changes In the Utilization of Telemedicine Services During the Covid-19 Pandemic. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2022;28(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 Ari B. Friedman, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Civ Ctr Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Additional authors for this research include Angela T. Chen, Hummy Song, Guy David, Alon Bergman, Stephanie Gervasi, Julie M. Bailey, Ronald Brooks, Aaron Smith-McLallen and Amelia M. Bond.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2022.88771. 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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