Telehealth Use Down Slightly in July

Nationally, telehealth diagnoses continued to be led by mental health conditions, which held at nearly 69% of telehealth claims.

Telehealth use slipped 5.6% across the nation in July, falling from to 5.1% of all private insurance and Medicare Advantage claims, down from 5.4% of those claims in June, according to nonprofit FAIR Health’s monthly tracker.

The South saw the nation’s biggest decline in telehealth use, falling by 9.3% from June to July, according to the tracker, which does not include Medicaid and fee-for-service Medicare.  

In July, FAIR tracked the cost of CPT^®3 99443 (telephone medical discussion with physician, 21-30 minutes.) and found that the median charge nationally for a telehealth visit was $211.49, and the median allowed amount was $97.93.

Nationally, telehealth diagnoses continued to be led by mental health conditions, which flickered around 69% of telehealth claims. That trend was similar in every region of the country, although the Northeast saw a more pronounced drop from 76.6% of telehealth claims in June to 75.9% in July, while the South and West recorded slight increases.

Other top telehealth claims were filed for developmental disorders, joint/soft tissue diseases, and endocrine and metabolic disorders.

Other highlights:

• In the Midwest in July, sleep disorders climbed from fifth to third place in the rankings of telehealth diagnoses (from 1.2% of claim lines in June to 1.3% in July).
   
• Nationally, the percentage of asynchronous telehealth claim for hypertension increased from 13.2% in June to 14% in July. The percentage of claim lines in all areas for the number one asynchronous diagnosis—mental health conditions—remained relatively stable in July.
   
• Increases in asynchronous telehealth claim lines for hypertension occurred in every region except the Northeast, where they decreased from 23.3% in June to 22.6% in July.
   
• Hypertension ranked number one for asynchronous telehealth claims the Midwest, climbing from the number two ranking in June (18.7% of claim lines), to number one in July (26.5%).
   
• Hypertension displaced mental health conditions in the Midwest, which dropped from first place with 36% of claim lines in June to second place with 20.6% in July.
   
• Audio-only telehealth held steady nationally in urban areas (4.8%) and increased slightly in rural areas 4.6% in July.
   
• Nationally and in the South, urban areas showed higher telehealth use than rural areas, while in the Midwest, West and Northeast, use was higher in rural areas than urban areas.