Telemedicine increasingly being used for chronic endocrine and behavioral health issues, finds study

A recent multi-institutional study led by researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has found that telemedicine is becoming more commonly used for problem-based primary care, especially for children with endocrine or behavioral health issues that require ongoing management. By mid-2020, 97% of primary care pediatricians were utilizing telemedicine, up from only 15% in 2016.

While telemedicine has the potential to overcome geographic barriers and improve access to specialists, there are still obstacles to its widespread adoption, such as the lack of necessary devices, poor internet access, and challenges in clinical workflows and provider preferences. Despite its growing use, there is limited evidence on how telemedicine is being employed to deliver primary care to children, particularly for specific health conditions.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed electronic health records from 1,088 pediatric practices serving children under 18 years old from 2019 to 2024. The findings revealed that telemedicine visits accounted for the highest proportion of problem-based visits in behavioral health (20%) and endocrine care (19%). The trend shows that after April 2020, when telemedicine visits peaked at 55% of all visits, the number of telemedicine visits declined to 6% by 2024.

However, from 2019 to May 2023, each additional telemedicine visit was associated with a net increase in total visit volume, indicating that more patients may be seen for problem-based visits as more practices integrate telemedicine into their service offerings.