RAND Corporation, Health Care Division, Arlington, VA, United States.
Doctor on Demand, San Francisco, CA, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Dec 15;22(12):e22727. doi: 10.2196/22727.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the use of and demand for telehealth services.
Here, we describe the utilization of telehealth services provided by Doctor On Demand, Inc., a well-known telehealth company in the United States, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also explore how the number of virtual visits, reasons for visits, and patients served changed over time.
We reported data as a percentage change from the baseline week during 2 distinct time periods: February-June 2019 and February-June 2020 based on 4 categories of visits: respiratory illness, unscheduled behavioral health, scheduled behavioral health, and chronic illness.
In 2020, the total visit volume increased considerably from March through April 7, 2020 (59% above the baseline) and then declined through the week of June 2 (15% above the baseline). Visits for respiratory illnesses increased through the week of March 24 (30% above the baseline) and then steadily declined through the week of June 2 (65% below the baseline). Higher relative increases were observed for unscheduled behavioral health and chronic illness visits through April (109% and 131% above the baseline, respectively) before a decline through the week of June 2 (69% and 37% above the baseline, respectively). Increases in visit volume among rural residents were slightly higher than those among urban residents (peak at 64% vs 58% above the baseline, respectively).
Although this telehealth service provider observed a substantial increase in the volume of visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is interesting to note that this growth was not fueled by COVID-19 concerns but by visits for behavioral health and chronic illness. Telehealth services may play a role as a "safety valve" for patients who have difficulty accessing care during a public health emergency.
COVID-19 大流行导致远程医疗服务的使用和需求增加。
在这里，我们描述了美国知名远程医疗公司 Doctor On Demand, Inc. 在 COVID-19 大流行之前和期间提供的远程医疗服务的使用情况。我们还探讨了虚拟就诊次数、就诊原因和服务患者人数随时间的变化。
我们根据 4 类就诊情况（呼吸道疾病、非计划性行为健康问题、计划性行为健康问题和慢性病），按照 2 个不同时间段（2019 年 2 月至 6 月和 2020 年 2 月至 6 月），报告了与基线周相比的百分比变化数据。
2020 年，总就诊量从 2020 年 3 月 7 日至 4 月（比基线高出 59%）大幅增加，然后在 6 月 2 日当周（比基线高出 15%）下降。呼吸道疾病就诊量从 3 月 24 日当周（比基线高出 30%）开始稳步下降，直到 6 月 2 日当周（比基线低 65%）。非计划性行为健康和慢性病就诊量在 4 月前呈相对较高的增长（比基线分别高出 109%和 131%），然后在 6 月 2 日当周下降（比基线分别高出 69%和 37%）。农村居民就诊量的增长略高于城市居民（峰值分别比基线高出 64%和 58%）。
尽管这家远程医疗服务提供商在 COVID-19 大流行期间观察到就诊量的大幅增加，但有趣的是，这种增长并不是由 COVID-19 引起的，而是由行为健康和慢性病就诊引起的。在公共卫生紧急情况下，远程医疗服务可能作为一种“安全阀”，为难以获得医疗服务的患者提供帮助。
