Telehealth Use Dipped in October

The declines varied by regions, with larger drops in the South, Midwest, and West.

After a summer of relative stability, Telehealth use fell 3.7% this past autumn, from 5.4% of medical claim lines in September to 5.2% in October, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker.

The declines varied by regions, with larger dips in the South (6.8%), Midwest (4.9%) and West (4.1%), contrasting increased use in the Northeast (1.7%), according to the FAIR data, which includes privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage but excludes Medicare fee-for-service and Medicaid.

Also in the report:

• COVID-19 continued to fall among the top five telehealth diagnoses nationally and in most regions in October, as it had in September. Nationally and in the Midwest, COVID-19 fell from third to fifth place in the rankings. In the Northeast, it fell from second to third place, and in the South, it fell from fifth place out of the rankings.
  
  In the West, COVID-19 had already been out of the top five telehealth diagnoses since September.
   
• Acute respiratory diseases and infections climbed in the rankings of the top five telehealth diagnoses in October, following a trend that began in September.
  
  In the Northeast, from September to October, this diagnosis rose from third to second place; in the West, it rose from fourth to second place. Nationally and in the Midwest and South, it remained at second place but increased in percentage share of telehealth claim lines. Nationally, for example, it rose from 3.1% of telehealth claim lines to 4.1%.
   
• The rankings of the top five telehealth specialties did not change nationally or regionally from September to October, as social worker remained the number one telehealth specialty.
   
• From September to October, the rankings of the top five telehealth procedure codes did not change nationally or in any region when compared to the previous eight months. The number one telehealth procedure code nationally and in every region remained CPT^®2 90837, one-hour psychotherapy.
   
• The Telehealth Cost Corner spotlighted the cost of CPT 90833, psychotherapy with evaluation and management visit, 30 minutes in October. Nationally, the median charge amount for this service when rendered via telehealth was $126.20, and the median allowed amount was $77.70.