Trends in Use of Telehealth Among Health Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 26–November 6, 2020

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Demeke, Hanna B. ; Merali, Sharifa ; Marks, Suzanne ; Pao, Leah Zilversmit ; Romero, Lisa ; Sandhu, Paramjit ; Clark, Hollie ; Clara, Alexey ; McDow, Kendra B. ; Tindall, Erica ; Campbell, Stephanie ; Bolton, Joshua ; Le, Xuan ; Skapik, Julia L. ; Nwaise, Isaac ; Rose, Michelle A. ; Strona, Frank V. ; Nelson, Christina ; Siza, Charlene
  More +
• Description:
  Telehealth can facilitate access to care, reduce risk for Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the Virus that causes coronaVirus disease 2019 COVID-19), conserve scarce medical supplies, and reduce strain on health care capacity and facilities while supporting continuity of care. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded health centers* expanded telehealth| services during the COVID-19 pandemic (1). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services eliminated geographic restrictions and enhanced reimbursement so that telehealth services-enabled health centers could expand telehealth services and continue providing care during the pandemic (2,3). CDC and HRSA analyzed data from 245 health centers that completed a voluntary weekly HRSA Health Center COVID-19 Survey| for 20 consecutive weeks to describe Trends in telehealth use. During the weeks ending June 26-November 6, 2020, the overall percentage of weekly health care visits conducted via telehealth (telehealth visits) decreased by 25%, from 35.8% during the week ending June 26 to 26.9% for the week ending November 6, averaging 30.2% over the study period. Weekly telehealth visits declined when COVID-19 cases were decreasing and plateaued as cases were increasing. Health centers in the South and in rural areas consistently reported the lowest average percentage of weekly telehealth visits over the 20 weeks, compared with health centers in other regions and urban areas. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, maintaining and expanding telehealth services will be critical to ensuring access to care while limiting exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
• Subjects:
  • COVID-19
  • CoronaVirus Infections
  • Health Care Surveys
  • Health Facilities
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Telemedicine
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 70(7):240-244
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  33600385
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7891688
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/103722/cdc_103722_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 273.39 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3cd5f6f5c93292eb3bdadddf26e015dd2260e6992a944373a7b1016cfcfbe23e986bfbd33ce8db7f1eaa4cbd0205b5dad6969260466b8df85695e0ed0ab35232