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. 2020 Jul 1;27(7):1132-1135.
doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa072.

COVID-19 transforms health care through telemedicine: Evidence from the field

Devin M Mann  1   2 , Ji Chen  1   2 , Rumi Chunara  3   4 , Paul A Testa  2 , Oded Nov  5
Affiliations

COVID-19 transforms health care through telemedicine: Evidence from the field

Devin M Mann et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. .

Abstract

This study provides data on the feasibility and impact of video-enabled telemedicine use among patients and providers and its impact on urgent and nonurgent healthcare delivery from one large health system (NYU Langone Health) at the epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States. Between March 2nd and April 14th 2020, telemedicine visits increased from 102.4 daily to 801.6 daily. (683% increase) in urgent care after the system-wide expansion of virtual urgent care staff in response to COVID-19. Of all virtual visits post expansion, 56.2% and 17.6% urgent and nonurgent visits, respectively, were COVID-19-related. Telemedicine usage was highest by patients 20 to 44 years of age, particularly for urgent care. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven rapid expansion of telemedicine use for urgent care and nonurgent care visits beyond baseline periods. This reflects an important change in telemedicine that other institutions facing the COVID-19 pandemic should anticipate.

Keywords: COVID-19; ambulatory care; remote patient monitoring; telemedicine.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Visit volumes increase in telemedicine urgent care (VUC) and nonurgent care (non-VUC) and decrease in in-person care. Each bar represents 1 day. Key dates are annotated above corresponding bars. COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; ED: emergency department.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Telemedicine adoption: daily count of unique patients and providers. Each 2 bars represent 1 day, and each bar is the volume of unique patients and providers using telemedicine each day. Key dates are annotated above corresponding bars. COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; ED: emergency department; MCIT: Medical Center Information Technology.
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