Direct-To-Consumer Telemedicine Visits For Acute Respiratory Infections Linked To More Downstream Visits.
Health Aff (Millwood)
; 40(4): 596-602, 2021 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1170009
ABSTRACT
Use of direct-to-consumer telemedicine-on-demand virtual care for minor medical issues-is growing rapidly. Although it may yield immediate savings by diverting health care from higher-cost settings, these savings could be countered if direct-to-consumer telemedicine increases follow-up care and, therefore, episode costs. Comparing downstream care utilization data from a large, commercial payer for the period 2016-19, we found that patients with initial visits for acute respiratory infection were more likely to obtain follow-up care within seven days after direct-to-consumer telemedicine visits (10.3 percent) than after in-person visits (5.9 percent). In both settings approximately 90 percent of patients did not obtain additional care. The telemedicine cohort had fewer (0.5 percent versus 0.6 percent) emergency department visits-a small but statistically significant difference-but more subsequent office, urgent care, and telemedicine visits. Our findings suggest that potential savings from shifting initial care to a direct-to-consumer telemedicine setting should be balanced against the potential for higher spending on downstream care.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Respiratory Tract Infections
/
Telemedicine
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Health Aff (Millwood)
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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