• Lori Uscher-Pines, James Thompson, Prentiss Taylor, Kristin Dean, Tony Yuan, Ian Tong, and Ateev Mehrotra.
• RAND Corporation, Health Care Division, Arlington, VA, United States.
• J. Med. Internet Res. 2020 Dec 15; 22 (12): e22727.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the use of and demand for telehealth services.ObjectiveHere, 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsIn 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).ConclusionsAlthough 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.©Lori Uscher-Pines, James Thompson, Prentiss Taylor, Kristin Dean, Tony Yuan, Ian Tong, Ateev Mehrotra. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 15.12.2020.

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