A brand new evaluation from KFF and Epic Analysis finds that telehealth visits for outpatient psychological well being and substance use companies went from nearly zero % in 2019 previous to the COVID-19 pandemic to a peak of 40% in mid-2020 – and continued to account for greater than a 3rd (36%) of such visits within the six months ending in August 2021.
The telehealth growth for psychological well being and substance use companies far exceeds the rise recorded over the identical interval for different outpatient companies. Because of this, psychological well being and substance use companies accounted for 39% of all telehealth outpatient visits within the six-month interval between March and August 2021, about 5 occasions the share of all different outpatient visits. This displays the super enhance in want for psychological well being companies on account of the pandemic, social distancing and ensuing financial turmoil, in addition to a return to in-person visits for different outpatient care.
The evaluation examines knowledge from Cosmos, Epic’s HIPAA-defined restricted knowledge set of greater than 126 million sufferers from hospitals and clinics throughout the nation. It additionally examines variations in telehealth use by age, gender and prognosis.