According to an analysis issued by The Commonwealth Fund, health care utilization has begun a slow return to pre-pandemic levels as stay-at-home restrictions have been lifted.Major findings from the research, as reported by Healthcare Dive:
- As of Aug. 1, all patient-physician encounters for care were down 9% from pre-pandemic levels. That’s significantly improved compared to data from late March, when visits were down 58%.
- Telemedicine encounters peaked at 13.8% in the second half of April. They have since settled in at 7.8% of all such encounters – a rate still much higher than pre-pandemic levels. Prior to COVID-19, telehealth made up just 0.1% of all visits.
- Among medical specialties, only dermatology has seen a rebound beyond pre-COVID levels, with encounters up about 8% overall. But primary care visits are down 2%; surgery encounters, 9%; orthopedics, 18%; and pediatrics are in a 26% decline.
If you’re a current MedBen client and have questions about your current healthcare utilization, please contact your Account Management Team to schedule a plan review, or to have them show you how the MedBen Analytics online reporting platform can provide you with this information.