Boca Raton, FL – NCCI recently released a new brief that examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on utilization of Telemedicine services in workers’ compensation.
NCCI noted that compared with 2019, FAIR Health has observed significant increases in telemedicine services listed on insurance claims since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, virtual care provider Teladoc Health has reported a more-than 200% increase in total patient visits between Second Quarter 2019 and Second Quarter 2020.
Telemedicine services have quickly changed from a lesser-used alternative delivery of treatment to a key medical tool. With possible benefits ranging from increasing efficiency of care to making specialists more easily accessible, this emerging option has the potential to positively affect an injured worker’s outcome.
Telemedicine also faces limitations, such as the lack of face-to-face assessment, expensive implementation, and potential privacy concerns.
Prior to 2020, telemedicine services had slow adoption rates and low utilization in medical care.
While NCCI data reflects the slow adoption of telemedicine in workers compensation (WC) insurance through 2019, there are indications of a growing use of telemedicine in WC in 2020.
However, will the increase in demand for telemedicine services be sustained long-term?
The brief examines the state of telemedicine services prior to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing baseline information, a discussion of emergency changes, and insights on what the future may hold.
Read the full brief: NCCI: Telemedicine: COVID-19 Affects Medical Service Delivery in 2020
Source: NCCI