Telehealth usage grew more than 7,000% during the first year of the pandemic, a new report from Fair Health has found, confirming and quantifying the widely reported trend.
“Telehealth grew in 2020 on a scale unseen in previous years,” the report said. “Telehealth utilization increased nationally (US) 41,919% from 2015 to 2020; from 2019 to 2020, national growth was 7,060%. In all other places of service studied for change in utilization, utilization decreased from 2019 to 2020, probably because of temporary COVID-related restrictions on elective services and because the risk of contracting COVID-19 discouraged people from seeking in-person care.”
The study backed up what other research has found: mental health services have been a big part of the increased utilization of telehealth in the U.S. Mental health conditions made up 44% of all claims. Excerpts from BenefitsPro.com