TY - JOUR
AU - J. Marshall
AU - F. Blavin
AU - C. O'Brien
AU - A. Parekh
AU - Barrie Smith
A1 - 
AB - OBJECTIVES: As permanent telehealth policies are considered in the United States (U.S.), it is important to understand who uses telehealth most often following the pandemic. We described patients who used a national virtual care practice frequently, identified how they differed from patients who used it less often, and characterized the types of care frequent telehealth patients utilized. METHODS: We used video visit data for commercially-insured patients, aged 18+, from a national virtual integrated medical and behavioral health practice in 2022 in the U.S. Patients were categorized into three groups: one visit ('minimal use'), two to four visits ('some use'), and five or more visits ('frequent use'). We compared patient and geographic characteristics between the three groups and estimated an ordinary least squares linear regression to identify predictors of 'frequent' use relative to 'minimal' or 'some' use. RESULTS: The probability of being a frequent user declined with age (-0.4 percentage points (p.p.) per year; 95 % CI, -0.4 - -0.3), was higher for females (5.4 p.p.; 95 % CI, 4.1 - 6.7) and patients with greater clinical complexity (7.9 p.p. for highest relative to lowest quartile risk score; 95 % CI, 5.9 - 10.0), and lower for patients in the Northeast (-9.2 p.p.; 95 % CI, -15.5 - -2.9) or West (-3.2 p.p.; 95 % CI, -5.7 - -0.7) regions relative to the Southern region of the U.S. The five most common diagnoses were mental health conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the need for comprehensive telehealth policy that enables access, particularly for patients who rely on it as their primary source of care.
AD - Included Health. One California Street, Ste. 2300, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA.; Urban Institute, 500 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20024, USA.
AN - 39262916
BT - Prev Med Rep
C5 - HIT & Telehealth
DA - Oct
DO - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102871
DP - NLM
ET - 20240818
JF - Prev Med Rep
LA - eng
N2 - OBJECTIVES: As permanent telehealth policies are considered in the United States (U.S.), it is important to understand who uses telehealth most often following the pandemic. We described patients who used a national virtual care practice frequently, identified how they differed from patients who used it less often, and characterized the types of care frequent telehealth patients utilized. METHODS: We used video visit data for commercially-insured patients, aged 18+, from a national virtual integrated medical and behavioral health practice in 2022 in the U.S. Patients were categorized into three groups: one visit ('minimal use'), two to four visits ('some use'), and five or more visits ('frequent use'). We compared patient and geographic characteristics between the three groups and estimated an ordinary least squares linear regression to identify predictors of 'frequent' use relative to 'minimal' or 'some' use. RESULTS: The probability of being a frequent user declined with age (-0.4 percentage points (p.p.) per year; 95 % CI, -0.4 - -0.3), was higher for females (5.4 p.p.; 95 % CI, 4.1 - 6.7) and patients with greater clinical complexity (7.9 p.p. for highest relative to lowest quartile risk score; 95 % CI, 5.9 - 10.0), and lower for patients in the Northeast (-9.2 p.p.; 95 % CI, -15.5 - -2.9) or West (-3.2 p.p.; 95 % CI, -5.7 - -0.7) regions relative to the Southern region of the U.S. The five most common diagnoses were mental health conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the need for comprehensive telehealth policy that enables access, particularly for patients who rely on it as their primary source of care.
PY - 2024
SN - 2211-3355 (Print); 2211-3355
SP - 102871
ST - Patient characteristics associated with frequent telehealth utilization in 2022: Evaluation of a national virtual integrated medical and behavioral health practice within the United States
T1 - Patient characteristics associated with frequent telehealth utilization in 2022: Evaluation of a national virtual integrated medical and behavioral health practice within the United States
T2 - Prev Med Rep
TI - Patient characteristics associated with frequent telehealth utilization in 2022: Evaluation of a national virtual integrated medical and behavioral health practice within the United States
U1 - HIT & Telehealth
U3 - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102871
VL - 46
VO - 2211-3355 (Print); 2211-3355
Y1 - 2024
ER -