Table 2. Differences in Low–, Medium–, and High–Telehealth Use Primary Care Practicesa.
| Characteristic | Tertile of telehealth use | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Low (495 665 beneficiaries and 2532 PCPs) | Medium (500 815 beneficiaries and 512 PCPs) | High (488 967 beneficiaries and 995 PCPs) | |
| Practice, median (IQR), %b | |||
| Telehealth use | 0.4 (0.0-3.8) | 14.7 (12.7-17.3) | 39.0 (28.0-59.8) |
| Practice in-person use | 62.6 (47.6-74.8) | 60.3 (49.0-71.1) | 43.3 (27.5-57.9) |
| Overall visit rate vs 2019, median (IQR), % | 65.2 (49.2-77.5) | 74.9 (64.4-85.6) | 86.7 (74.6-103.3) |
| Per practice, median (IQR), No. | |||
| Clinicians | 2 (1-3) | 2 (1-5) | 2 (1-4) |
| Patients | 65 (25-225.5) | 206 (50-588.5) | 148 (46-441) |
| Rural, weighted % of practicesc | 24.2 | 18.1 | 8.2 |
| Sex, % | |||
| Female | 52.2 | 53.8 | 52.7 |
| Male | 47.8 | 46.2 | 47.2 |
| Age, median (IQR), y | 34 (15-54) | 43 (21-58) | 46 (27-59) |
| Rural, % of beneficiaries | 26.3 | 22.0 | 10.7 |
| Comorbidities, % of beneficiariesd | |||
| Cancer | 3.3 | 5.2 | 5.9 |
| Diabetes | 7.8 | 10.0 | 12.2 |
| Immune compromise | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| CHF | 2.4 | 3.0 | 3.8 |
| COPD | 3.1 | 3.7 | 4.5 |
| CKD | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.8 |
Abbreviations: CHF, congestive heart failure; CKD, chronic kidney disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; PCP, primary care practice.
a
Data are from an analysis of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan claims for 2019 to 2020.
b
Percentage of visits compared with mean monthly visits of any modality (January 2019 to February 2020).
c
Rural was defined using the practice’s zip code(s) as classified in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Data Files. Frequency weights are based on the number of beneficiaries attributed to each practice–zip code combination.
d
Comorbidities identified from hierarchical condition categories.