Telemedicine Use Among Physicians by Physician Specialty: United States, 2021.

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to an increase in telemedicine use among physicians, from 15.4% in 2019 to 86.5% in 2021 (1-4). Interest has increased in how telemedicine has affected a physician's ability to deliver quality care similar to an in-person office visit, and in technological barriers to telemedicine use (5). This report describes telemedicine use and challenges among physicians sampled in the 2021 National Electronic Health Records Survey. This report builds upon previous work (4) and describes the use of telemedicine, ability to provide quality care during telemedicine visits, satisfaction with telemedicine, and appropriateness of telemedicine use by physician specialty type.

Physician Specialty and Office Visits Made by Adults With Diagnosed Multiple Chronic Conditions: United States, 2014-2015.

OBJECTIVES: Adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs; ≥2 chronic conditions) account for a substantial number of visits to health care providers. The complexity of a patient's care, including the number of chronic conditions, may differ by physician specialty. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine differences in physician office visits among adults with MCCs by physician specialty and (2) identify the types of MCC dyads (combinations of 2 chronic conditions) most common among visits to office-based physicians. METHODS: We used data from the 2014-2015 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (unweighted analytic sample, n = 61 682), a nationally representative survey of physician office-based ambulatory visits, to examine differences in physician office visits among adults with MCCs by physician specialty. We also identified the most commonly observed MCC dyads among these visits. RESULTS: During 2014-2015, 40.0% of physician office visits were made by adults with MCCs. Compared with visits for all specialties combined (40.0%), a significantly higher percentage of physician office visits among adults with MCCs were to specialists in cardiovascular disease (74.7%) and internal medicine (57.6%). For all physician specialties except psychiatry, the MCC dyads of hyperlipidemia and hypertension and diabetes and hypertension were among the most commonly observed MCC dyads among visits made by adults with MCCs. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of these findings may help specialists improve care for adults with MCCs. The recognition among physicians of common MCC dyads is relevant to the care management of persons with MCCs.