A new report from the American Hospital Association says that although telehealth accounts for just 2.6 percent of overall medical claims, its use is gaining steadily in the healthcare space, having surged 53 percent between 2016 and 2017. This rate of telehealth growth, reports AHA, is even bigger than that of urgent care centers, retail clinics, ambulatory surgery centers and emergency departments.
From its database of 28 billion commercial claims, Fair Health research indicated that national utilization of alternative places of service continued to grow from 2016 to 2017, but at different rates. The top three diagnostic categories associated with telehealth in 2017 — each with 13 percent of claim lines — were injuries (e.g., contusions, open wounds), acute respiratory infections and digestive system issues. Neither injury nor digestive system issues had been among the top diagnostic categories in 2016.
However, in another study published earlier this week, it was found that doctors who treat children for general illness (colds, sore throat, and other minor illnesses) are more likely to overprescribed antibiotics, indicating a strong need for education and training in the growing field.
Moving on to mental health services, it was the No. 1 diagnostic category in 2016 but dropped to No. 5 in 2017. Yet, it still continues to grow, nonetheless. As with other areas of telehealth, says AHA, there is great opportunity to expand telebehavioral health services nationally.
Some of the research highlights include:
· Nationally, private insurance claim lines for telehealth services as a percentage of medical claims grew 1,202 percent from 2012 to 2017, as more states (Texas being the latest) and regions implemented laws facilitating telehealth.
· Patients between 31 and 60 years were most likely to use telehealth services (44 percent, down from 56 percent a year earlier), while 10 percent of telehealth claim lines involved children younger than 10 (up from 4 percent a year earlier).
· Females were more likely than males to use telehealth services in every age group except for children younger than 10.
Learn more about the key findings in Fair Health's white paper.
The AHA Center for Health Innovation and the National Quality Forum have partnered to produce a new resource on leveraging telehealth technology to expand access to behavioral health services. The playbook provides actionable strategies, interventions and links as well as other tools and resources. Another AHA Center for Health Innovation resource - "Telehealth: A Path to Virtual Integrated Care" - examines the current state of telehealth growth in hospitals and health systems and ways organizations can build capacity to expand access, improve outcomes and reduce costs.
