Since the onset of the pandemic, most of the nation has seen exponential growth in the utilization of telehealth services. These gains remained steady for most of the past two years until mid-2022. As recently as May of this year, telehealth services made up 5.4% of all medical claims for Medicare Advantage members and those who are privately insured.
According to the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, this number dropped to just 1.7% in June. This decline was especially notable in the South and Northeast regions. However, individuals in Western states actually turned to telehealth more during this period, as their numbers rose by 2.9%.
Despite its incidence rates continually changing, COVID-19 remains one of the top two reasons why individuals seek care utilizing telehealth. Other health concerns that led Americans to this service include musculoskeletal dysfunction, developmental disorders, skin conditions, and urinary tract infections.
Additionally, this research shows that the most widely used procedure code across provider networks nationwide is for a one-hour psychotherapy session. This suggests individuals are continuing to take advantage of services from the booming online mental health industry. Despite overall telehealth trends fluctuating, the data leads us to believe higher usage of online mental health services is here to stay.
This is promising for insurers who have decided to add more behavioral health clinicians to their network. If you are not yet recruiting mental health professionals who offer telehealth services for your provider network, it is a wise decision to do so. Any insurers who need help reinforcing their provider network are encouraged to contact TOG Network Solutions and take advantage of its industry-leading Provider Data Management platform.