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Lee JS, Bhatt A, Pollack LM, Jackson SL, Omeaku N, Lowe Beasley K, Wilson C, Luo F, Roy K. Racial and Ethnic Differences in Hypertension-Related Telehealth and In-Person Outpatient Visits Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Medicaid Beneficiaries. Telemed J E Health 2024. [PMID: 38241486 DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2023.0516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Background: Little is known about the trends and costs of hypertension management through telehealth among individuals enrolled in Medicaid. Methods: Using MarketScan® Medicaid database, we examined outpatient visits among people with hypertension aged 18-64 years. We presented the numbers of hypertension-related telehealth and in-person outpatient visits per 100 individuals and the proportion of hypertension-related telehealth outpatient visits to total outpatient visits by month, overall, and by race and ethnicity. For the cost analysis, we presented total and patient out-of-pocket (OOP) costs per visit for telehealth and in-person visits in 2021. Results: Of the 229,562 individuals, 114,445 (49.9%) were non-Hispanic White, 80,692 (35.2%) were non-Hispanic Black, 3,924 (1.71%) were Hispanic. From February to April 2020, the number of hypertension-related telehealth outpatient visits per 100 persons increased from 0.01 to 6.13, the number of hypertension-related in-person visits decreased from 61.88 to 52.63, and the proportion of hypertension-related telehealth outpatient visits increased from 0.01% to 10.44%. During that same time, the proportion increased from 0.02% to 13.9% for non-Hispanic White adults, from 0.00% to 7.58% for non-Hispanic Black adults, and from 0.12% to 19.82% for Hispanic adults. The average total and patient OOP costs per visit in 2021 were $83.82 (95% confidence interval [CI], 82.66-85.05) and $0.55 (95% CI, 0.42-0.68) for telehealth and $264.48 (95% CI, 258.87-269.51) and $0.72 (95% CI, 0.65-0.79) for in-person visits, respectively. Conclusions: Hypertension management via telehealth increased among Medicaid recipients regardless of race and ethnicity, during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings may inform telehealth policymakers and health care practitioners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Soo Lee
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Ami Bhatt
- Applied Science, Research, and Technology Inc., (ASRT Inc.), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Lisa M Pollack
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Sandra L Jackson
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Nina Omeaku
- Applied Science, Research, and Technology Inc., (ASRT Inc.), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Kincaid Lowe Beasley
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Feijun Luo
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Kakoli Roy
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Lee JS, Bhatt A, Jackson SL, Pollack LM, Omeaku N, Beasley KL, Wilson C, Luo F, Roy K. Rural and Urban Differences in Hypertension Management Through Telehealth Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Commercially Insured Patients. Am J Hypertens 2024; 37:107-111. [PMID: 37772661 PMCID: PMC10900132 DOI: 10.1093/ajh/hpad093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a rapid increase in telehealth use. However, limited evidence exists on how rural and urban residents used telehealth and in-person outpatient services to manage hypertension during the pandemic. METHODS This longitudinal study analyzed 701,410 US adults (18-64 years) in the MarketScan Commercial Claims Database, who were continuously enrolled from January 2017 through March 2022. We documented monthly numbers of hypertension-related telehealth and in-person outpatient visits (per 100 individuals), and the proportion of telehealth visits among all hypertension-related outpatient visits, from January 2019 through March 2022. We used Welch's two-tail t-test to differentiate monthly estimates by rural-urban status and month-to-month changes. RESULTS From February through April 2020, the monthly number of hypertension-related telehealth visits per 100 individuals increased from 0.01 to 6.05 (P < 0.001) for urban residents and from 0.01 to 4.56 (P < 0.001) for rural residents. Hypertension-related in-person visits decreased from 20.12 to 8.30 (P < 0.001) for urban residents and from 20.48 to 10.15 (P < 0.001) for rural residents. The proportion of hypertension-related telehealth visits increased from 0.04% to 42.15% (P < 0.001) for urban residents and from 0.06% to 30.98% (P < 0.001) for rural residents. From March 2020 to March 2022, the monthly average of the proportions of hypertension-related telehealth visits was higher for urban residents than for rural residents (10.19% vs. 6.96%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Data show that rural residents were less likely to use telehealth for hypertension management. Understanding trends in hypertension-related telehealth utilization can highlight disparities in the sustained use of telehealth to advance accessible health care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Soo Lee
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Ami Bhatt
- Applied Science, Research, and Technology Inc. (ASRT Inc.), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Sandra L. Jackson
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Lisa M. Pollack
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Nina Omeaku
- Applied Science, Research, and Technology Inc. (ASRT Inc.), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Kincaid Lowe Beasley
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Feijun Luo
- Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Kakoli Roy
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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