PAVC welcomes you to #TelehealthTuesday, an effort demonstrating the valuable role that telehealth has played during the pandemic, and the role that it can continue to play if current flexibilities are extended beyond the public health emergency. Each week, we’ll be releasing a new data visualization based on publicly-available Medicare data.
Week 12
May 2, 2023
Telehealth has transformed healthcare for millions of Americans living with behavioral health needs. With the number of patients seeking care exceeding the providers available, telehealth has greatly increased access to this critical care, making it easier for patients to choose their preferred provider based on comfort (rather than location), and manage their health needs more conveniently within the demands of everyday life. To ensure we do not lose this valuable progress, Congress must permanently extend the telehealth flexibilities expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Week 11
April 25, 2023
Telehealth has transformed healthcare for patients living with chronic conditions, making it easier to monitor certain health indicators remotely and schedule convenient appointments with physicians. To ensure we do not lose this valuable progress, Congress must permanently extend the telehealth flexibilities expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Week 10
April 18, 2023
Telehealth has transformed healthcare for millions of Medicare beneficiaries, making it easier and more efficient for many of our country’s most vulnerable patients to access care. To ensure we do not lose this valuable progress, Congress must permanently extend the telehealth flexibilities expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Week 9
March 21, 2023
It’s #TelehealthTuesday, and this map shows us just how widely telehealth is used across the country. Nationwide, 31% of all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries had at least one telehealth encounter in 2021 – accounting for approximately 9.6 million people. These numbers demonstrate why we need to permanently preserve access to virtual care.
Week 8
March 14, 2023
Today’s #TelehealthTuesday analysis shows how important telehealth is to Medicare beneficiaries who do not have easy access to a vehicle. The CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index ranks counties by their vulnerability across multiple core areas, including household access to a car. When we look at the Medicare fee-for-service claims data from 2021, we see the counties where households are least likely to own a personal vehicle also had the highest rates of telehealth use. This again emphasizes the vital role telehealth plays in creating more equitable access to healthcare.
Week 7
March 7, 2023
In today’s #TelehealthTuesday analysis, we are taking a more detailed look at the top primary diagnosis codes from last week, looking at the top 5 primary diagnosis codes for telehealth claims in 2021 among Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries, for both primary care specialties and behavioral health specialties. As you can see, telehealth provided essential access to care for patients experiencing hypertension, COVID-19, Type-2 diabetes, and sleep apnea, as well as those seeking behavioral health care for depression and anxiety.
Week 6
February 28, 2023
When we examine the Top 10 diagnoses for Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries using telehealth in 2021, it is clear telehealth plays an important role in providing healthcare access for patients living with chronic and behavioral health conditions. Among the most common uses, #telehealth supported patients with hypertension, sleep apnea, and diabetes, and provided care for COVID-19 patients. Telehealth also provides important access to behavioral health for beneficiaries with anxiety and major depressive disorder.
Week 5
February 21, 2023
In today’s #TelehealthTuesday data analysis, we are illustrating that telehealth provides important access to care for Medicare beneficiaries who qualify through disability. While these patients only represented 20% of all traditional Medicare beneficiaries in 2021, they represented 27% of all Medicare beneficiaries using telehealth. Furthermore, 54% of the Medicare population using telehealth for behavioral health were those who qualified through disability.
Week 4
February 14, 2023
Did you know that while dual eligible beneficiaries only represented 18% of the traditional Medicare population in 2021, they represented 24% of all traditional Medicare beneficiaries using telehealth? Dual eligible beneficiaries also represented 43% of beneficiaries who used telehealth to see a behavioral health provider.
Week 3
February 7, 2023
Today on #TelehealthTuesday, we are analyzing the top 10 specialties for telehealth use in traditional Medicare, according to 2021 data. Internal medicine was the top specialty for telehealth from March 2020 – May 2021. Starting in June 2021, nurse practitioners surpassed internal medicine as the most dominant specialty for telehealth in the traditional Medicare program. Meanwhile, behavioral health specialties such as psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers have had the most constant telehealth use from March 2020 – December 2021.
Week 2
January 31, 2023
This week we are looking at how telehealth is most often used. According to our data, most telehealth is used for evaluation and management (E/M) services for established patients, psychiatry, and specialists. After an initial spike in April 2020, E/M telehealth visits for established patients and specialists have held steady from May thru December 2021. The volume for psychiatry visits has remained virtually consistent since the start of the PHE, demonstrating the continued importance of telehealth for behavioral health.
Week 1
January 24, 2023
Telehealth Tuesday is back for 2023! This week, our data shows that more than 9.5 million Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries received care via telehealth in 2021. Although telehealth use was lower in 2021 than in 2020, the traditional Medicare program saw at least 2 million telehealth visits per month, demonstrating telehealth’s continued importance even as the public health emergency unwinds.
2022 Posts
Week 11
March 28, 2022
This week’s nationwide map demonstrates that Medicare beneficiaries across the country benefited from telehealth in 2020. Specifically, 41% of all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries (approximately 14.8 million people) had at least one telehealth encounter in 2020, and in approximately 85% of the counties listed on the map, 18% to 50% of their Medicare beneficiaries had at least one telehealth encounter. This widespread use of telehealth throughout the country demonstrates the need to preserve access to these important services post-PHE.
Week 10
March 21, 2022
Week 10 completes our two-part series started in Week 8, and continues to focus on those with the greatest health needs (i.e. those with chronic health conditions). Week 7’s data demonstrated that this group of chronically ill individuals were more likely to use telehealth at the start of the PHE. This week’s data demonstrates that telehealth among this group is still a valuable and utilized service, even after in-person care resumed.
Week 9
March 15, 2022
This week, we provide a telehealth policy update. Specifically, we focus on the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations package, which includes provisions to extend certain telehealth flexibilities related to the public health emergency (PHE) for 151 days—approximately five months—after the PHE ends. The following charts detail these flexibility extensions within their broader telehealth policy context, along with the telehealth flexibilities not addressed in the omnibus bill that would require further congressional action to be extended or made permanent.
Week 8
March 8, 2022
Week 8, part one of another two-part series, continues our focus on those with the greatest health needs (i.e. high number of ER visits in the year before the pandemic). In Week 6, which was focused on this group of patients, the data demonstrated that they were more likely to use telehealth at the start of the PHE. This week’s data demonstrates how telehealth use among this group remained high, even as in-person care resumed in the second half of 2020.
Week 7
March 1, 2022
Week 7, part two of a two-part series, focuses on how beneficiaries with the greatest needs (i.e. those with chronic health conditions) were more likely to use telehealth at the start of the Public Health Emergency (PHE).
Week 6
February 22, 2022
Week 6, part one of a two-part series, focuses on how beneficiaries with the greatest needs (i.e. high number of ER visits in the year before the pandemic) were more likely to use telehealth at the start of the Public Health Emergency (PHE).
Week 5
February 15, 2022
Week 5 focuses on how telehealth demand remained strong in 2020 among vulnerable beneficiary groups (dually-eligible and disabled beneficiaries), even as in-person care returned in the second half of the year.
Week 4
February 8, 2022
Week 4 focuses on how broadband increases access to telehealth, and that while Medicare beneficiaries nationwide have benefited from increased access to telehealth, more can be done to improve access. For example, more than 10 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries reside in counties where less than 80% of households have broadband access, underscoring the need to improve access to broadband.
Week 3
February 1, 2022
Week 3, focuses on how telehealth has improved access to primary care, mental and behavioral health. Notably, telehealth helped to greatly offset a more than 40% drop in in-person encounters for behavioral health in 2020, helping to provide access to these services during the pandemic.
Week 2
January 25, 2022
Week 2 focuses on the role that telehealth plays for vulnerable patient populations—including Medicare-Medicaid dual eligible beneficiaries and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The data clearly demonstrate that telehealth is a valuable source of care among low-income beneficiaries and ESRD patients. Access to telehealth services beyond the current PHE can continue to improve care options for these vulnerable patient populations.
Week 1
January 18, 2022
Week 1 focuses on how the flexibilities implemented by Congress and the Administration at the beginning of the pandemic allowed telehealth services to offset the dramatic drop in in-person care for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries that was seen at the start of the pandemic. From March through December of 2020, over 14 million Medicare FFS beneficiaries received care via telehealth.
