Table 3. Ambulatory Encounters and Percentage of Telehealth Encounters During July to December 2019 and 2020.
| Encounter-level characteristic | 2019 Mean (SD) No. of encounters per persona | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) No. of encounters per persona | Mean No. of encounters per person for those with ≥1 encounter (% telehealth) | ||
| Total | 2.46 (5.00) | 2.45 (5.24) | 4.14 (16.80) |
| Type of ambulatory encounter | |||
| Evaluation and management office | 1.60 (2.39) | 1.56 (2.43) | 2.64 (14.61) |
| Behavioral health | 0.32 (2.50) | 0.36 (2.53) | 0.6 (53.41) |
| Rehabilitation | 0.40 (2.53) | 0.38 (2.83) | 0.64 (1.66) |
| Other | 0.14 (1.04) | 0.15 (1.10) | 0.26 (10.40) |
| Practitioner specialty | |||
| Primary care (MD or DO) | 0.69 (1.31) | 0.62 (1.25) | 1.06 (15.23) |
| Medical specialist (MD or DO) | 0.22 (0.75) | 0.23 (0.80) | 0.39 (13.58) |
| Surgical specialist (MD or DO) | 0.20 (0.77) | 0.20 (0.76) | 0.33 (3.64) |
| Behavioral health (MD, DO, or non-MD) | 0.17 (1.66) | 0.18 (1.87) | 0.31 (58.06) |
| Rehabilitation (MD, DO, or non-MD) | 0.33 (2.27) | 0.32 (2.26) | 0.53 (2.74) |
| Other physician | 0.52 (2.42) | 0.56 (2.65) | 0.95 (24.85) |
| Physician assistant or nurse practitioner | 0.19 (0.70) | 0.21 (0.75) | 0.35 (13.65) |
| Other nonphysicians | 0.13 (1.20) | 0.13 (1.27) | 0.21 (18.58) |
| Primary diagnosis | |||
| Diabetes | 0.05 (0.37) | 0.05 (0.37) | 0.09 (13.85) |
| Hypertension | 0.07 (0.34) | 0.07 (0.36) | 0.12 (12.28) |
| Behavioral health | 0.46 (3.04) | 0.50 (3.35) | 0.85 (51.44) |
| Cancer | 0.05 (0.50) | 0.05 (0.55) | 0.09 (8.07) |
| Well-child care | 0.02 (0.16) | 0.02 (0.14) | 0.03 (0.30) |
| COVID-19 diagnosis | NA | 0.02 (0.20) | 0.04 (27.25) |
| Other chronic diagnosis | 0.44 (1.46) | 0.42 (1.46) | 0.71 (12.66) |
| Other acute diagnosis | 3.04 (1.38) | 1.31 (3.04) | 2.22 (7.93) |
| Continuity of patient encounter or problem | |||
| Existing patient encounters | 1.90 (4.68) | 1.81 (4.80) | 3.06 (18.07) |
| New patient encounters | 0.56 (2.29) | 0.64 (2.61) | 1.08 (17.84) |
| Existing problem encounters | 1.58 (4.54) | 1.49 (4.60) | 2.53 (18.76) |
| New problem encounters | 0.88 (2.67) | 0.95 (3.03) | 1.61 (16.85) |
Abbreviations: DO, doctor of osteopathic medicine; MD, doctor of medicine; NA, not applicable.
a
The full study sample included members continuously enrolled from July 1, 2019, through December 31, 2020. These unadjusted rates are reported as the number of telehealth-eligible ambulatory encounters per enrollee that took place during the study period (July to December). Percentages represent the proportion of encounters that took place via telehealth. Note that all rows were calculated at the encounter level and that all the per persons columns include all enrollees whether or not they used any services.