FAIR Health Research
December 19, 2023
FAIR Health continues to publish original data studies that explore healthcare-related issues. Topics of this year’s studies included eating disorders, ground ambulance services, telehealth, place of service trends and medical pricing, primary care and shared decision making. In addition, we introduced two new trackers: a Cost of Giving Birth Tracker and an Opioid Tracker, and we added new features to the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker in its fourth year. We also released two infographics, one on FAIR Health consumer website usage statistics and the other on Lyme disease, as well as a brief that offers a user’s guide to the new Opioid Tracker.
FAIR Health, Spotlight on Eating Disorders: An Analysis of Private Healthcare Claims, A FAIR Health White Paper, November 15, 2023.
This white paper examined changes in the percentage of claim lines for eating disorders over time at national and regional levels, as well as states, age and gender, places of service, specialties and co-occurring mental health conditions. The study found that in the period 2018-2022, eating disorder claim lines increased 65 percent nationally as a percentage of all medical claim lines. In addition, 72 percent of patients with eating disorders were also diagnosed with one or more co-occurring mental health conditions that were not eating disorders.
FAIR Health, Lyme Disease: An Ongoing Concern, A FAIR Health Infographic, October 17, 2023.
This Lyme disease infographic offered statistics related to this tick-borne, bacterial illness from 2018 to 2022. The data visualizations included Lyme disease by age group distribution, rural versus urban diagnoses across the calendar year, top and bottom Lyme disease states in 2018 and 2022, and the results of a longitudinal study that compared Lyme disease patients to all patients with respect to malaise and fatigue and soft-tissue related diagnoses. Among the findings: In the period 2018-2022, more Lyme disease claim lines were filed for individuals in the 51-60 age group than any other group. Also, in the longitudinal data, across all age groups except those over 80, malaise and fatigue and soft-tissue-related diagnoses were more common among Lyme patients than among the total patient population.
FAIR Health, The FAIR Health Opioid Tracker: A Helpful User’s Guide, A FAIR Health Brief, September 28, 2023.
This brief offered a user’s guide to the Opioid Tracker, a resource on opioid abuse and dependence procedure codes, allowed amounts and diagnoses by age and gender. Among the findings reported in the brief: Nationally, in 2022, patients aged 31 to 40 were the age group with the highest percentage of opioid abuse and dependence claim lines. Also nationally in 2022, males accounted for 62.5 percent of claim lines with opioid abuse and dependence diagnoses, while females accounted for 37.5 percent.
FAIR Health, A Window into Utilization and Cost of Ground Ambulance Services: A National Study of Private Healthcare Claims, A FAIR Health Brief, September 14, 2023.
This brief investigated both emergency and nonemergency ground ambulance services across the nation in the period 2018-2022. Factors analyzed included utilization, cost, age and gender, diagnosis, differences across states and outcomes associated with ground ambulance services (e.g., inpatient admission), as well as findings associated with non-transport services. Among the findings: Nearly 60 percent of ground ambulance rides were out of network in 2022, and individuals aged 65 and older experienced higher rates of ground ambulance rides resulting in inpatient admission than any other age group in the study period.
FAIR Health, Telehealth in Connecticut: An Analysis of Private Healthcare Claims Focusing on Areas with Greater Minority Populations, A FAIR Health White Paper, September 7, 2023.
With funding by the Connecticut Health Foundation, this report presented the results of an observational study to examine the use of telehealth in Connecticut, with particular attention to differences in treatment in areas with greater minority populations. The analysis included the Connecticut population overall and seven of the most common and well-known health conditions treated via telehealth in the state. The study found that from March 1, 2020, to September 30, 2022, Connecticut telehealth patients were more likely to have emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalizations than patients who did not use telehealth care. In addition, for all seven health conditions analyzed in Connecticut during the study period, greater racial and ethnic diversity in an area (as measured by a smaller percentage of white people) correlated with higher average numbers of ER visits and hospitalizations for both patients who used telehealth and those who did not use it. It was beyond the scope of the study to determine whether the increased ER visits and hospitalizations generally associated with telehealth in Connecticut in 2020-2022 were necessary or unnecessary, or whether there was a causal relationship between telehealth and the measured results.
FAIR Health, FH® Healthcare Indicators and FH® Medical Price Index 2023: An Annual View of Place of Service Trends and Medical Pricing, A FAIR Health White Paper, March 29, 2023.
This white paper was the sixth annual edition to cover place of service trends and medical prices. The report showed that from 2020 to 2021, telehealth utilization declined 76 percent nationally while, during that same period, retail clinic utilization increased 51 percent nationally. Despite its decline from 2020 to 2021, national telehealth utilization grew 5,017 percent from 2016 to 2021. This high rate of growth was due in large part to widespread limits on in-office services imposed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. With regards to the other places of service studied, utilization increased 14 percent in urgent care centers, while decreasing 7 percent in ambulatory service centers and 15 percent in ERs.
FAIR Health, A Window into Primary Care: An Analysis of Private Healthcare Claims, A FAIR Health White Paper, March 15, 2023.
This report provided an analysis of primary care with a focus on geography, physician versus nonphysician care and primary care specialties. The study also examined allowed amounts, telehealth utilization, diagnoses and behavioral health. Among the findings: Nationally, from 2016 to 2022, 29 percent of patients receiving medical care did not visit a primary care provider. This ranged from a high of 43 percent in Tennessee to a low of 16 percent in Massachusetts. In addition, of the providers who performed primary care services in 2016-2022, 56 percent were physicians, while 44 percent were nonphysicians.
FAIR Health, Advancing Shared Decision Making among Older Adults with Serious Health Conditions: Lessons from FAIR Health’s Grant-Funded Initiative, A FAIR Health Brief, February 22, 2023.
This brief presented insights from a grant-funded initiative designed to advance cost information in shared decision making among adults over 65 with serious health conditions. New tools, content and resources were launched on a dedicated Older Adults section of FAIR Health’s free, award-winning consumer website, fairhealthconsumer.org. Website analytics, two national surveys and a series of focus groups with patients, caregivers and providers were conducted to evaluate the initiative. Among the key learnings: Over 9,000 unique visitors viewed the Older Adults tools and resources on the site from their launch in September 2022 to the end of the grant period in December 2022. Additionally, 65 percent of survey respondents agreed that the new section helped them understand how to manage their healthcare costs.
FAIR Health, fairhealthconsumer.org Usage Statistics 2022, A FAIR Health Infographic, January 17, 2023.
This infographic was the latest annual presentation of year-end statistics on the usage of FAIR Health Consumer. The infographic included the top five medical and dental search terms, the age and gender of users, top user locations, top decision aids, most popular educational topics and most frequently visited total treatment bundles. The statistics showed a strong interest in the shared decision-making tools on the site, with type 2 diabetes ranked as the number one decision aid visited. The analyses also showed the proportion of males using the site increased from 41 percent in 2021 to 45 percent in 2022.
Opioid Tracker
Launched in September 2023, the Opioid Tracker includes a heat map representing opioid abuse and dependence claim lines as a percentage of all medical claim lines in 2022 state by state. Clicking on a state displays an infographic for that state. The infographic includes the top five procedure codes by utilization for opioid abuse and dependence, the top five procedure codes by aggregate allowed amounts for opioid abuse and dependence, the change in opioid abuse and dependence claim lines as a percentage of all medical claim lines from 2018 to 2022, and diagnoses of opioid abuse and dependence by age and gender. There is also a similar infographic for the nation as a whole.
Cost of Giving Birth Tracker
The Cost of Giving Birth Tracker was launched in June 2023 as a free, interactive tool for tracking the cost of giving birth state by state. Heat maps show state-specific and national median charge and allowed (in-network) amounts for vaginal deliveries and C-sections. Included in the data are inpatient and outpatient facility and professional costs. Services include the delivery itself (e.g., pharmacy, nursery, labor and delivery room, medical and surgical supplies, room and board for the mother), anesthesia, fetal nonstress tests, ultrasounds, laboratory work and a breast pump.
Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker
Launched in May 2020 as a free service, the Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker uses FAIR Health data to track how telehealth is evolving from month to month. An interactive map of the four US census regions allows the user to view an infographic on telehealth in a specific month in the nation as a whole or in individual regions. The 2023 edition of the Tracker added new features: audio-only telehealth usage (urban versus rural) and the top five diagnoses via asynchronous telehealth, which is telehealth in which data are stored and forwarded (e.g., blood pressure or other cardiac-related readings transmitted electronically; A1c levels transmitted electronically). Continuing from previous years are the percent change in telehealth’s percentage of medical claim lines, the top five telehealth diagnoses and the Telehealth Cost Corner.