Telemedicine Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in People with Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, or Parkinson’s Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study Using US Commercial Claims Data
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telemedicine (TM) increased dramatically, but it is unclear how use varies by characteristics of people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), or Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: This cross-sectional study used US PharMetrics Plus c...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mary Ann Liebert
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Telemedicine Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0030 |
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| Summary: | Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of telemedicine (TM) increased dramatically, but it is unclear how use varies by characteristics of people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), multiple sclerosis (MS), or Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: This cross-sectional study used US PharMetrics Plus commercial claims data from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. TM use (≥1 Current Procedural Terminology code) was assessed in each study year (2019, 2020, and 2021) among people with ≥1 inpatient or ≥2 outpatient diagnosis codes ≥30 days apart for AD, MS, or PD. Any TM use and disease-related visits (AD, MS, or PD diagnosis code within TM claim) were summarized, and characteristics of TM users versus nonusers during the pandemic (2020 and 2021) were described. Results: Among people with AD, MS, or PD, 0.9% used TM in 2019 versus 58.0% in 2020 and 42.5% in 2021. Among TM users in 2020 and 2021, the majority had TM visits related to their neurological disorder (73.2% and 64.6%, respectively). During the pandemic, approximately 25% of total TM visits (n = 296,434) were provided by a neurologist. Mean (SD) age of TM users was similar to nonusers (60.5 [15.1] and 61.5 [15.3] years), but TM users were more likely to be female (62% vs 60%), enrolled in Medicare (33% vs 30%), and reside in western (64.2% vs 35.8%) or eastern (61.0% vs 39.0%) regions versus nonusers. Conclusions: Although results indicate expanded use of and access to TM among people with AD, MS, or PD, differences in patient and health care provider characteristics for TM use were notable. |
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| ISSN: | 2692-4366 |