October 5, 2020

Use and Content of Primary Care Office-Based vs Telemedicine Care Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

Keywords (Tags): public health

• A cross-sectional analysis of more than 125 million primary care visits between 2018 and 2020 indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with changes in the structure of primary care delivery during the second quarter of 2020, with the content of telemedicine visits differing from that of in-person visits. Primary care visits decreased by 21% during the second quarter of 2020 compared with the average quarterly visit volume from previous years, and evaluations of blood pressure and cholesterol decreased as a result of the less frequent assessment during telemedicine visits.

Alexander et al. (2020). Use and Content of Primary Care Office-Based vs Telemedicine Care Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.21476