70 Telehealth utilization patterns among patients with multiple chronic conditions in Arkansas

Abstract

Objectives/Goals: Patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) face care coordination challenges and poorer health outcomes. Outpatient telehealth may be an effective way to enhance MCC patient care given the need for multiple visits and specialists. This study seeks to describe telehealth utilization between 2013 and 2023 in Arkansas. Methods/Study Population: We utilized the Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) to identify patients diagnosed with high-prevalence MCCs comprising diabetes with comorbid hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or asthma. We then measured telehealth utilization defined as any claim associated with a telehealth modifier code, a place of service code defining the service as occurring in the patient’s home, or remote patient monitoring. Finally, we created payer-specific (e.g., commercial or Medicaid) yearly measures of the number of any telehealth claims among MCC patients divided by the number of MCC patients for that year. Linear regression was used to measure the difference in utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 2020–2023) versus prior to the pandemic (i.e., 2013–2019). Results/Anticipated Results: Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic era was associated with an increase of telehealth utilization among commercial patients by 1.01 telehealth claims per MCC patient (95% CI: 0.39 to 1.62, p Discussion/Significance of Impact: Variations in telehealth uptake among MCC patients suggest heterogeneity in its suitability and necessity. We will later evaluate whether telehealth use is associated with different levels of inpatient and emergency department utilization. We expect the findings to provide clarity on the suitability of telehealth use by MCC disease status.