Telehealth utilization fell 10% nationally from May to June 2021 after a month of stability, according to FAIR Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. 

Telehealth made up 5% of medical claim lines in May, and only 4.5% in June. Telehealth claim lines fell across all four U.S. Census regions as well, especially in the Northeast. Utilization dropped nearly 12% in that region from May to June. 

Mental health conditions dominate the diagnoses received via telehealth across the Census regions and nationally, making up more than 61% of telehealth claim lines in June. This was also an increase from May, when mental health conditions made up just over 60% of telehealth claim lines.

Acute respiratory diseases and infections made up nearly 3% of telehealth claim lines, rising to the second-highest telehealth diagnosis in June. Joint and soft tissue diseases and issues was number three.

WHY IT MATTERS 

Telehealth use shot up during the COVID-19 pandemic as patients and providers took care outside the office to avoid in-person interactions. 

According to a FAIR Health report last year, the telehealth share of medical claim lines increased 3,552% from August 2019 to August 2020.

Now providers, insurers and policymakers are trying to figure out the future of telehealth, including reimbursement questions and how to address quality concerns. 

"Virtual care has played a particularly important role in addressing mental health during the pandemic," Dr. William Lopez, national director for virtual care at Cigna, told Healthcare Finance News in May.

"Given the ease, convenience and accessibility of virtual care – and the additional privacy that virtual behavioral healthcare offers – we expect virtual care to remain in high demand post-pandemic."

THE LARGER TREND

Telehealth utilization has generally been falling in 2021. FAIR Health reported three months of decline at the beginning of this year before utilization stabilized in May. Telehealth utilization actually rose 2% nationally from April to May before the next month’s slump.

A report released by Trilliant Health in June found telehealth use spiked in April 2020 and has been tapering off from there, though there are still some groups, like younger women, who utilize it more consistently. 

But some providers and insurers argue telehealth isn’t going away, and the future of healthcare will be a mix of in-person and virtual care.

"There’s going to be a hybrid approach. You can’t just start with I’m 100% digital, and that’s how it is going to be. It’s going to be a hybrid approach," Dr. Nick Patel, chief digital officer at Prima Health and vice chair for innovation and clinical innovation for UCertainly, said during a HIMSS21 panel.

"There are patients who are going to have to come into the practice, and then there are patients who are healthy and are maintained, [who] can be managed digitally.”