FAIR Health Tracks Telehealth Use by Month

NEW YORK (May 8, 2020)—FAIR Health launched the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, a new, interactive feature on its website. Drawing on FAIR Health’s database of more than 31 billion private health care claim records, the tracker will offer insights into the month-by-month evolution of telehealth in every region of the country, especially now as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses.

FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker
As a venue of care that permits health care services to be delivered without in-person contact, telehealth is expected to expand dramatically as people take precautions against COVID-19. A national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to health care costs and health insurance information, FAIR Health is in a unique position to open a window into telehealth. Already, FAIR Health has published a white paper on telehealth, studied telehealth in its series of FH Healthcare Indicators and FH Medical Price Index white papers, and, in a brief on COVID-19, analyzed telehealth in the context of the pandemic.

The Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving on a monthly basis. An interactive map of the four United States census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in each region, or in the nation as a whole. Each infographic includes a 2019 vs. 2020 comparison for that month of telehealth’s:

• Volume of claim lines;
• Urban vs. rural usage;
• Top five procedure codes; and
• Top five diagnoses.

One month can be compared to another month, and regional statistics for each month can be compared to national statistics for that month. The first two months of data, from January and February 2020, are already on the site. Each month another month of data will be added. Over time, FAIR Health expects that new developments in telehealth’s evolution will become evident.

FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd said, “As part of FAIR Health’s mission, we are seeking ways to make our data useful to the public during this time of change. We are privileged to be able to monitor telehealth month by month as this venue of care is transformed, particularly now in response to COVID-19.”

For the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, click here.