Disparities in Telemedicine Use Among Louisiana Medicaid Beneficiaries During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Med Care
; 61(Suppl 1): S70-S76, 2023 04 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36893421
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased reliance on telemedicine. Whether this exacerbated existing disparities within vulnerable populations is not yet known.OBJECTIVES:
Characterize changes in outpatient telemedicine evaluation and management (E&M) services for Louisiana Medicaid beneficiaries by race, ethnicity, and rurality during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESEARCHDESIGN:
Interrupted time series regression models estimated pre-COVID-19 trends and changes in E&M service use at the April and July 2020 peaks in COVID-19 infections in Louisiana and in December 2020 after those peaks had subsided.SUBJECTS:
Louisiana Medicaid beneficiaries continuously enrolled between January 2018 and December 2020 who were not also enrolled in Medicare.MEASURES:
Monthly outpatient E&M claims per 1000 beneficiaries.RESULTS:
Prepandemic differences in service use between non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black beneficiaries narrowed by 34% through December 2020 (95% CI 17.6%-50.6%), while differences between non-Hispanic White and Hispanic beneficiaries increased by 10.5% (95% CI 0.1%-20.7%). Non-Hispanic White beneficiaries used telemedicine at higher rates than non-Hispanic Black (difference=24.9 claims per 1000 beneficiaries, 95% CI 22.3-27.4) and Hispanic beneficiaries (difference=42.3 claims per 1000 beneficiaries, 95% CI 39.1-45.5) during the first wave of COVID-19 infections in Louisiana. Telemedicine use increased slightly for rural beneficiaries compared with urban beneficiaries (difference=5.3 claims per 1000 beneficiaries, 95% CI 4.0-6.6).CONCLUSIONS:
The COVID-19 pandemic narrowed gaps in outpatient E&M service use between non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black Louisiana Medicaid beneficiaries, though gaps in telemedicine use emerged. Hispanic beneficiaries experienced large reductions in service use and relatively small increases in telemedicine use.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
COVID-19
Limite:
Aged
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article