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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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