JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Despite the surge of telemedicine use during the early stages of the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, research has not evaluated the extent to which the growth of telemedicine has been sustained during recurring pandemic waves.

Objective:

This study provides data on the long-term durability of video-based telemedicine visits and their impact on urgent and non-urgent healthcare delivery from one large health system in New York City.

Methods:

Electronic health record (EHR) data of patients between January 1st, 2020 and February 28th, 2022 were used to conduct the analyses and longitudinal comparisons of telemedicine or in-person visit volumes. Patients’ diagnosis data were used to differentiate COVID-19 suspected visits from non-COVID-19 ones while comparing the visit types.

Results:

While COVID-19 prompted an increase in telemedicine visits and a simultaneous decline in in-person clinic visits, telemedicine use has stabilized since then for both COVID-19 and non-COVID suspected visits. For COVID-19 suspected visits, utilization of virtual urgent care facilities is higher than the trend. The data further suggests that virtual healthcare delivery supplements, rather than replaces, in-person care.

Conclusions:

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the use of telemedicine as a means of healthcare delivery, and the data presented here suggests that this is an enduring transformation. Telemedicine use increased with the surge of infection cases during the pandemic, but evidence suggests that it will persist after the pandemic, especially for younger patients, for both urgent and non-urgent care. These findings have implications for the healthcare delivery system, insurers and policymakers.