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. 2021 Mar 1;181(3):388-391.
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.5928.

Trends in Outpatient Care Delivery and Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

Sadiq Y Patel  1 , Ateev Mehrotra  1   2   3 , Haiden A Huskamp  1 , Lori Uscher-Pines  4 , Ishani Ganguli  5 , Michael L Barnett  5   6
Affiliations

Trends in Outpatient Care Delivery and Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

Sadiq Y Patel et al. JAMA Intern Med. .

Abstract

This cohort study examines trends in the use of telemedicine and in-person outpatient visits in 2020 among a national sample of 16.7 million individuals with commercial or Medicare Advantage insurance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Mehrotra reported grants from the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. Dr Huskamp reported grants from the National Institute of Mental Health during the conduct of the study. Dr Ganguli reported personal fees from Haven and personal fees from Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Trends in In-Person, Telemedicine, and Total (In-Person Plus Telemedicine) Visits per Week During the Pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods, January 1, 2020, to June 16, 2020a
The dotted vertical line in panel B indicates the week of March 17, 2020, (week 11), when Medicare expanded reimbursement for telemedicine visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. aWeek 21 (May 20 to May 26, 2020) includes Memorial Day, a federal holiday in the US. The work week was likely 4 days for many practices resulting in a decrease in visit volume.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. US Geographic Variation in the Percent Change in Total Visits and Percent of Total Visits Delivered by Telemedicine From May 20 to June 16, 2020
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mehrotra A, Chernew M, Linetsky D, Hatch H, Cutler D. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient visits: practices are adapting to the new normal. Commonwealth Fund. Published June 25, 2020. Accessed July 15, 2020. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/jun/impact-covid-19-p....
    1. Verma S. Early impact of CMS expansion of Medicare telehealth during COVID-19. Health Aff Blog. Published July 15, 2020. Accessed July 16, 2020. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200715.454789/full/ - DOI
    1. OptumLabs . OptumLabs and OptumLabs Data Warehouse (OLDW) Descriptions and Citation. Eden Prairie, MN: n.p., May 2019. PDF. Reproduced with permission from OptumLabs. https://www.optumlabs.com/
    1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services . President Trump expands telehealth benefits for Medicare beneficiaries during COVID-19 outbreak. Newsroom. Published March 17, 2020. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/president-trump-expands-tele....
    1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services . List of telehealth services. Updated April 30, 2020. Accessed July 15, 2020. https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-General-Information/Telehealth/Tel....

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