Study: Telehealth use increased at end of 2022

Telehealth utilization rose 5.5% in December, up slightly from November, according to Fair Health’s national monthly tracker. 

COVID-19 stayed as the third top telehealth diagnosis nationally and accounted for a larger share of claims in December, the data showed. 

Acute respiratory diseases and infections remained in the second spot and also continued to grow as a percentage share of claim lines nationally, according to the report. 

Telehealth utilization was on the decline but picked back up in November and December, according to data. 

Mental health visits accounted for the majority of diagnoses in December. 

Virtual visits rose 7.1% in the South, 5% in the Midwest and 3.3% in the Northeast while they stayed the same in the West, the tracker, which uses claims data for patients on private insurance, including Medicare Advantage and excluding Medicare fee-for-service and Medicaid, found. 

Top provider specialties delivering telehealth did not change, with social workers in first place nationally, though it fell as a percentage share of claim lines in every region but the Northeast. Primary care physicians took second place nationally and increased as a percentage of claim lines nationally. 

Procedure codes also did not change and haven’t for 10 months. One hour of psychotherapy remained the top code nationally, while 45 minutes of psychotherapy fell as a percentage share of claim lines in every region except the Northeast.