Mental health conditions remained the leading telehealth diagnosis category across every U.S. region from January through March, accounting for 57.6% of telehealth diagnoses in the Midwest, 56.4% in the Northeast, 49.1% in the West and 48.3% in the South, according to FAIR Health’s quarterly regional tracker.
Fair Health’s tracker analyzed commercially insured patients from its FH NPIC database of commercial medical and dental claim records from more than 75 contributors nationwide. The report examined telehealth utilization from January through March.
Here are four things to know:
- Young adults were the most likely to use telehealth for mental health conditions. Mental health conditions accounted for 74.1% of telehealth diagnoses among patients ages 19-30 in the Midwest. That figure was 72.6% in the Northeast, 67.4% in the West and 65.8% in the South.
- Mental health also dominated telehealth use among adolescents. Among patients ages 10-18, mental health conditions represented 73.1% of telehealth diagnoses in the Midwest, 68.0% in the Northeast, 63.3% in the South and 58.4% in the West.
- Mental health-related visits declined with age but remained the top telehealth diagnosis in every age group. Among patients ages 65 and older, mental health conditions still ranked first, accounting for 25.6% of telehealth diagnoses in the Northeast, 24.6% in the Midwest, 19.2% in the West and 19.1% in the South.
- Mental health services were among the most common telehealth procedures nationwide. Psychotherapy services and procedures accounted for 41.5% of telehealth procedures in the Northeast, 36.6% in the Midwest, 32.9% in the West and 30.3% in the South. Psychiatric diagnostic procedures were also among the top five telehealth procedure categories in every region.
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