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Just released this morning an update on our prior reports on visit trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few of the highlights in this thread. 1/ https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/jun/impact-covid-19-pandemic-outpatient-visits-practices-adapting-new-normal
Visits are now down 11% from baseline. We also emphasize the cumulative deficit in visits over the last three months. 2/
@EricSchneiderMD and Tanya Shah discuss the implications of this deficit including, “The health of Americans is at risk because of reduced access to services.” 3/ https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2020/pandemic-shock-outpatient-practices-struggle-recover-and-adapt
The initial drop in visits was greatest in those states (eg NY,NJ,MA,WA) hit early by the pandemic. Those states have also lagged behind in the rebound. 4/
The rebound in visits varies notably across specialties. For example, dermatologists in our sample are back to their baseline visits. Pediatricians are still down 30%! 5/
The most striking finding for me was difference in visit trends among adults vs. kids. The oldest age group (75+) is down just 3% in visits while visits among kids of all ages still down 30%+ from baseline. 6/
What happened to telemedicine? The expectation was that physicians would continue to embrace. Instead the use of telemedicine is rapidly declining. We discuss why in a STAT editorial. Gist. Uncertainty about long-term financial sustainability. 7/ https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/25/telemedicine-time-to-shine-doctors-abandoning-it
Thanks to colleagues on this @michael_chernew @davidlinetsky @HRHatch @Cutler_econ, @phreesia for partnership, @commonwealthfnd for dissemination. Rapid shifts in visits contrary to what I expected. Good reminder on how much we have to learn about impact of this pandemic. 8/8
