Direct-To-Consumer Telehealth Could Boost Access To Care, But New Utilization Precludes Savings

About 12% of consumer telehealth visits for acute respiratory infection that took place via a direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform (via telephone or videoconferencing) replaced visits to health care professionals in other settings. About 88% of the DTC telehealth visits represented new utilization, not replacement. Each telehealth visit was about half the cost of a physician office visit, and less than 5% of the cost of an emergency department visit. However, because the vast majority of DTC telehealth visits were new utilization rather than replacing a higher-cost care setting, health plan net annual spending on acute respiratory illness increased . . .