Where telehealth use is up, down: 7 takeaways

Telehealth utilization grew in three of the four U.S. census regions with the greatest increase occurring in the West, according to FAIR Health's Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. 

The tracker acquired utilization data by measuring telehealth's share of all medical claim lines, by U.S. region from June to July.

Seven takeaways:

1. In the West, telehealth utilization rose from 7 percent to 7.4 percent of medical claim lines.
   
   
2. In the South, telehealth utilization increased by 4.9 percent, and in the Midwest telehealth utilization grew by 2.5 percent.
   
   
3. In the Northeast, telehealth utilization fell 3.3 percent, from 6.0 percent of medical claim lines to 5.8 percent.
   
   
4. National telehealth utilization increased by 1.9 percent from June to July, after declining by 3.7 percent from May to June, rising from 5.2 percent of medical claim lines in June to 5.3 percent in July.
   
   
5. Social work was the top-ranked telehealth speciality in all regions in July.
   
   
6. In July, COVID-19 diagnosis was the second ranked telehealth diagnosis.
   
   
7. The median charge amount for telehealth services was $17.72 nationally.