A snapshot of national telehealth utilization based on claims data shows that mental illnesses led the virtual care diagnosis category in every region of the country, accounting for 67.9% of telehealth claim lines.
According to FAIR Health’s monthly telehealth region tracker, telehealth use decreased nationwide and in the South in March 2024 but increased in the other three U.S. census regions: the Midwest, Northeast and West.
FAIR Health is a nonprofit organization committed to enabling transparency in health care costs and health insurance information through data products, consumer resources and health system research support. According to FAIR Health, it owns the largest collection of commercial health care claims data in the United States, containing more than 46 billion claims records, and is growing at a rate of more than 3 billion claims records per year.
Nationwide, the number of medical claims related to telehealth decreased from 4.79% in February to 4.73% in March, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points. In the South, it decreased by 3.1%. In the Midwest, the share of claims increased by 2.2%, in the Northeast it increased by 3.4% and in the West it increased by 0.1%. The data represents the privately insured population, excluding Medicare fee-for-service plans, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid.
From February to March 2024, the top five rankings in the telemedicine diagnosis category remained unchanged nationally and in all regions except the West, where laboratory visits dropped from third place in the top five, developmental disorders rose from fifth to third, and endocrine and metabolic disorders joined the top five.
Mental illnesses remain number one nationally and across all regions. The percentage of telehealth claims for mental illnesses increased nationally and in the Northeast and South, remained stable in the West, and decreased in the Midwest.
Mental Health Diagnoses There was no change in the rankings of the top five mental health diagnoses from February to March 2024. Nationwide and in all regions, the top five mental health diagnoses for both months were generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, adjustment disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder combined accounted for more than 50% of mental health telehealth claims volume nationwide and in all regions in both months.
From February to March 2024, the rankings of the top five specialties for telehealth providers remained the same nationally and across all regions. Social workers ranked #1 nationally and across all regions. At the national level, social workers accounted for 35.4% of telehealth billing lines in March. Across regions, this ranged from 29.9% in the South to 41.7% in the Midwest.
In March 2024, similar to February, the 31-40 age group accounted for the largest percentage of telehealth claims nationwide and in the South and West, while the 19-30 age group accounted for the largest percentage in the Midwest and Northeast. In both months, the 19-30 and 31-40 age groups accounted for 20% or more of telehealth claims nationwide and in all regions.
Costs Nationwide and in the Northeast, the median allowable amount for CPT 97802 (Therapeutic procedures for nutrition management, 15 minutes each) in March 2024 was the same ($36) whether provided in the office or via telehealth. In the Midwest and South, costs were higher in the office than telehealth. In the Midwest, the office cost was $46 and the telehealth cost was $43. In the South, the office cost was $33 and the telehealth cost was $29. One region in the West had a higher median allowable amount for telehealth ($49) than in the office ($39).
“We’re pleased to share this diverse information as the use of telehealth continues to evolve — one of the many ways we pursue our mission of healthcare transparency,” Robin Gelbard, president of FAIR Health, said in a statement.
