Patient Office/Hospital Visits Down, Telemedicine Visits Up for Non-COVID-19-Health Issues Based on Claims Analysis by Health Transformation Alliance

Patient office/hospital visits for non-COVID-19-health issues fell in Spring 2020 recovering to pre-pandemic levels by Fall

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Health Transformation Alliance

Feb 25, 2021, 16:22 ET

WESTMONT, N.J., Feb. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Health Transformation Alliance (HTA) released results based on the paid claims data of 1.8 million U.S. employees of the HTA member-owners and their family members. The analysis is of the indirect impact of COVID-19 on non-COVID-19-related medical and pharmaceutical utilization and costs from January to October 2020 compared to January to October 2019. The full report is available here.

Three key findings from the report:

The Spring saw a pronounced COVID-19 dip in use of health system by adults, less so for child/baby wellness visits: Emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and physician office visits for non-COVID-19-related health issues fell substantially in April 2020 compared to April 2019. This was also true for wellness visits, although the decrease was less dramatic for child and baby wellness visits compared to adult wellness visits.
Preventative screenings fell: Screenings for cholesterol, breast cancer (mammograms), cervical cancer, and colon cancer also fell substantially; but these and all screenings returned to pre-pandemic levels by October.
Dramatic increase in telemedicine visits: Offsetting the decline in in-person visits was a dramatic increase in telemedicine visits. Between January and May 2020, telemedicine visits increased by a factor of 28x before dropping off slightly in June and remaining level through October.

"These results indicate a permanent change in patient acceptance and use of telemedicine," said Lee Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) & GM Medical Solutions at Health Transformation Alliance. "While the traditional office visits did recover since the initial shock of the pandemic, telemedicine use increased dramatically before settling at a high plateau."

About the Report
The analysis is of the indirect impact of COVID-19 on non-COVID-19-related medical and pharmaceutical utilization and costs from January to October 2020 compared to January to October 2019. The analysis is based on the paid claims data of 1.8 million U.S. employees of the HTA member-owners and their family members during this time period. Paid claims data, bills submitted by healthcare providers and paid by health plans, provides a holistic view of patients' interactions with the healthcare system and accurately reflects the tests, procedures, and services provided and what plans paid for them.

About the Health Transformation Alliance
The Health Transformation Alliance (HTA) is a cooperative of 58 of America's leading employers that have come together to ﬁx our broken healthcare system. With responsibility for more than 4 million lives in the United States and a collective annual health care spend of $27 billion, the member-owner companies of the HTA have combined their resources, knowledge, and experience to transform the way healthcare is delivered. To that end, the HTA has developed value-driven solutions in data and analytics, pharmacy, medical and consumer engagement speciﬁcally designed to improve patient care and economic value. To date, the HTA has saved its member companies more than $1 billion.

SOURCE Health Transformation Alliance