期刊
INTERACTIVE JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH
卷 11, 期 1, 页码 -出版社
JMIR PUBLICATIONS, INC
DOI: 10.2196/29880
关键词
telemedicine; COVID-19; utilization; impact; retrospective; observational; trend; telehealth; health policy; policy
资金
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research [Z1A AA000130]
- National Institute on Mental Health [MH118482]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant increase in telemedicine utilization, which has remained stable. Regional and institute-level differences in telemedicine utilization have implications for policy and procedures.
Background: While telemedicine has been expanding over the past decade, the COVID-19-related restrictions regarding in-person care have led to unprecedented levels of telemedicine utilization. To the authors' knowledge, no studies to date have quantitatively analyzed both national and regional trends in telemedicine utilization during the pandemic, both of which have key implications for informing health policy. Objective: This study aimed to investigate how trends in telemedicine utilization changed across the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using data from doxy.me, the largest free telemedicine platform, and the NIH (National Institutes of Health) Clinical Center, the largest clinical research hospital in the United States, we assessed changes in total telemedicine minutes, new provider registrations, monthly sessions, and average session length from March to November 2020. We also conducted a state-level analysis of how telemedicine expansion differed by region. Results: National telemedicine utilization peaked in April 2020 at 291 million minutes and stabilized at 200 to 220 million monthly minutes from May to November 2020. Surges were strongest in New England and weakest in the South and West. Greater telemedicine expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic was geographically associated with fewer COVID-19 cases per capita. The nature of telemedicine visits also changed, as the average monthly visits per provider doubled and the average visit length decreased by 60%. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt and subsequently sustained uptick in telemedicine utilization. Regional and institute-level differences in telemedicine utilization should be further investigated to inform policy and procedures for sustaining meaningful telemedicine use in clinical practice.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据