Key result
Telehealth hypertension visits are linked to ~68% lower per-visit costs versus in-person care.
Why the study?
Little was known regarding the trends and costs of hypertension management through telehealth among individuals enrolled in Medicaid.
Does the utilization and cost of telehealth versus in-person visits for hypertension management differ by race and ethnicity among Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Observational (n=229,562)
Does the utilization and cost of telehealth versus in-person visits for hypertension management differ by race and ethnicity among Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Telehealth utilization for hypertension management increased significantly among Medicaid beneficiaries across all racial and ethnic groups during the early COVID-19 pandemic, with lower costs compared to in-person visits.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Telehealth was associated with lower hypertension visit costs among Medicaid beneficiaries; leaves open whether racial disparities in uptake persist post-pandemic.
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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Lee et al. (2024) conducted an observational in Hypertension (n=229,562). Telehealth outpatient visits vs. In-person outpatient visits was evaluated on Average total cost per visit in 2021. Hypertension management via telehealth increased from 0.01% to 10.44% of visits early in the pandemic, and had lower average total costs per visit than in-person care in 2021 ($83.82 vs $264.48).
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