A new report from Cigna analyzing the one-year impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an array of findings related to virtual care delivery, including that 60 percent of behavioral health patients are still using virtual services. Prior to the pandemic, 97 percent of these individuals had never had a single virtual consultation.
The analysis is based on a variety of data sources, including a review of Cigna’s U.S. commercial medical claims utilization from January 2020 to January 2021, and other market research. Before the pandemic, virtual visits made up just over 1 percent of all medical and behavioral professional office visits that could be conducted virtually. Today, they make up nearly 25 percent.
What’s more, primary care and behavioral services were the largest specialties utilized virtually in 2020, as more than one-fifth of primary care and nearly two-thirds of behavioral care was performed virtually, according to Cigna’s data. Here’s a further breakdown on the percentage of visits conducted virtually, by specialty: counseling: 51 percent; psychiatry: 52 percent; family medicine: 20 percent; internal medicine: 27 percent; social work: 54 percent; and speech therapy: 49 percent.
Importantly, the Cigna research shows, telehealth cannot replace all in-person professional office services. The insurer’s analysis found that pediatric care was largely still performed in-person; only 13 percent of pediatric visits were conducted virtually. Specialties that had the lowest rates of virtual adoption included: chiropractic care: 0.3 percent; podiatry: 1 percent; and physical therapy: 3 percent.
Further, more than half of Americans reported that they are comfortable with virtual consultations replacing in-person visits. Indeed, 58 percent agree with this sentiment, especially if it means they can do the visit while remaining at work or home, if the visit costs less and allows for free virtual follow-ups, and if it allows for long-distance care if the patient is out of the area.
Additionally, three-quarters of individuals said they see a future of healthcare at home; 76 percent believed that more care will be delivered at home versus in a typical healthcare setting in the future, with middle-aged adults among those most likely to agree (81 percent of those were aged 35-44) with this sentiment.
On the behavioral health front, more people are seeking behavioral care at record levels, especially females and youth, according to the report, which found a 27 percent increase in behavioral health outpatient care compared to pre-pandemic levels. What’s more, 63 percent of all behavioral patients were female—compared with 48 percent pre-COVID) —with females seeking care at higher rates than males across all age and ethnic groups. And, 45 percent of those seeking behavioral care were under 30 years old.
Indeed, the rise of virtual care puts behavioral care in reach of more people—60 percent of behavioral health customers are now using virtual services, and 97 percent of those who accessed behavioral health services during the initial stay-at-home orders didn’t have a behavioral telehealth claim prior to lockdown, the report showed.
Also of note is that the increased use of virtual behavioral health has remained constant through the end of 2020, even while virtual care for other services decreased. In April 2020, 66 percent of all office visit behavioral health claims were done virtually, and have remained around that level since.
What’s more, the report showed that virtual behavioral health services are making a positive impact in the workplace. Almost half (49 percent) of behavioral telehealth users reported higher productivity at work, as behavioral telehealth users reported taking fewer sick days and missed workdays overall.
