Telehealth use during the early COVID-19 public health emergency and subsequent health care costs and utilization.

ABSTRACT: Telehealth utilization increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet few studies have documented associations of telehealth use with subsequent medical costs and health care utilization. We examined associations of telehealth use during the early COVID-19 public health emergency (March-June 2020) with subsequent total medical costs and health care utilization among people with heart disease (HD). We created a longitudinal cohort of individuals with HD using MarketScan Commercial Claims data (2018-2022). We used difference-in-differences methodology adjusting for patients' characteristics, comorbidities, COVID-19 infection status, and number of in-person visits. We found that using telehealth during the stay-at-home order period was associated with a reduction in total medical costs (by -$181

SUBMITTER: Lee JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10895996 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature