New Report by Anthem Public Policy Institute Reveals Virtual Health Usage Among Medicare Advantage Members During COVID-19
November 17 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
A new report by Anthem’s Public Policy Institute highlights the
use of virtual healthcare by individuals enrolled in Anthem’s
affiliated Medicare Advantage (MA) plans during the early months of
the COVID-19 pandemic compared to earlier time periods. The report
examines the substantial increase in the use of virtual care, the
types of services provided, and the demographics of the members who
used them. The number of virtual services used by Anthem’s
affiliated MA members in March through May 2020 was 136 times
greater than in the same months the year before, increasing from
4,400 to 600,000.
As part of Anthem’s coordinated response to the COVID-19
pandemic, the company has taken steps to ensure access and coverage
by adapting tools and policies, leveraging its expertise in data
and advanced analytics to provide innovative solutions, and
delivering outreach and relief to those in need. These steps also
included increasing access to virtual care for video and
telephone-only visits which —along with the resultant adoption of
social distancing and stay-at-home orders— have shifted the way
consumers access care.
“Earlier this year, the delivery of care changed as a result of
the pandemic, so we examined that shift in order to better
understand how members were using and accessing care,” said
Jennifer Kowalski, vice president of the Anthem Public Policy
Institute. “The intention of this report is to share these insights
about the rapid uptick in the use of virtual services during the
early months of the pandemic and the types of services that members
were accessing. We believe that by examining and sharing how and
when members were using virtual services, we can help to shape the
healthcare system to better leverage digital technology to meet the
needs of members and all Americans moving forward.”
Care rendered within existing patient-provider relationships
accounted for 98 percent of the virtual services. While the vast
majority of care was attributable to existing patient-providers
relationships, the number of services for new patient encounters in
March-May 2020 accounted for more than the sum of all virtual
services for the same timeframe in 2019.
The analysis shows that mental health conditions and substance
use disorders was the largest group of primary diagnoses treated
virtually, with year over year growth in services of more than
5,000 percent. Among physical health conditions, cardiovascular
diagnoses were the most commonly addressed via virtual visits
during this period, followed by musculoskeletal ailments and
endocrine and metabolic conditions.
The brief also breaks down the virtual services across
demographics and shows that older members, while using more virtual
services than the year before, used a smaller share of virtual
services during 2020 than might be expected based on their 2019
in-person utilization.
Copies of the Anthem Public Policy Institute’s white papers are
available at: http://anthempublicpolicyinstitute.com, and are also
discussed at: http://thinkanthem.com.
About the Anthem Public Policy Institute
The Anthem Public Policy Institute was established to share data
and insights to inform public policy and shape the health care
programs of the future. The Public Policy Institute strives to be
an objective and credible contributor to health care innovation and
transformation through publication of policy-relevant data
analysis, timely research and insights from Anthem’s innovative
programs.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201117005771/en/
Eric Lail Email: Eric.Lail@anthem.com Phone: (202) 875-3662
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