CDC: More than a third of Americans used telemedicine in 2021

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that more than a third of Americans used telemedicine services last year, even as many states restricted them.

The CDC reported early Thursday that 37% of adults last year said they had used telemedicine in the previous 12 months, based on data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey.

Some medical experts said the report confirms that many patients prefer the ease of meeting with doctors in a video visit rather than in person.

“Telemedicine was a burgeoning trend that was heavily accelerated in adoption by the pandemic,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “There is a lot of momentum with telemedicine that must be preserved by not allowing bureaucratic state-level regulations, which were suspended during the pandemic, to stifle it. “

Telemedicine exploded in popularity during COVID-19 quarantines, but government officials have recently restricted access with new regulations.

According to the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, the percentage of adults aged 50-80 who had ever participated in a telehealth visit rose from 4% in May 2019 to 30% in June 2020.

But the Alliance for Connected Care, a telemedicine advocacy group, told CBS News on Monday that nearly 40 states and Washington, D.C., ended emergency declarations over the past year that made it easier for doctors to see patients virtually in another state.

Not every demographic is equally enthusiastic about using telemedicine.

The CDC’s report found telemedicine use increased with age and was higher among women (42.0%) than men (31.7%). It was also higher among non-Hispanic Whites (39.2%) than Hispanics (32.8%), non-Hispanic Blacks (33.1%) and non-Hispanic Asians (33.0%).

“It is not surprising that older White women used telehealth more than others,” said Thomas Plante, a clinical psychologist who teaches at Santa Clara University. “Women, especially older ones, tend to use health services more than others and White women may have the resources — stable internet connection, personal computer — that some people of color might not have.”

The CDC also said the share of adults who used telemedicine increased with education level, family income and age. It was most popular in urban areas than rural areas and more popular in the West and Northeast than in the South and Midwest.

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a physician at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said telemedicine could deepen divisions between rich and poor Americans until digital resources become more evenly distributed. 

“Until then, it may result unintentionally in worsening current health disparity gaps related to health care access,” Dr. Galiatsos said. “Understanding how to make telemedicine work for all should be a priority for health systems alike.”