Abstract Details

Title Telemedicine Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among People With Neurological Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study Using US Commercial Claims Data

Topic General Neurology

Presentation(s) S49 - General Neurology (4:18 PM-4:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 005

Objective To evaluate telemedicine (TM) use during the COVID-19 pandemic among people with neurological disorders (pwND), including multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background Use of TM increased during the pandemic; however, it is unclear how its use and accessibility varies among pwND.

Design/Methods This cross-sectional study used US PharMetrics Plus commercial claims data from January 1, 2019–December 31, 2021. TM use, identified using ≥1 current procedural terminology codes, was assessed in each study year (2019, 2020, 2021) among people with ≥1 inpatient or ≥2 outpatient diagnosis codes ≥30 days apart for MS, AD or PD. Any TM use and ND-related visits (MS, AD, PD diagnosis code within TM claim) were summarized, and characteristics of TM users vs nonusers during the pandemic (2020 and 2021) were described.

Results Among pwND, 0.9% (933/101,598 pwND) used TM in 2019 compared with 58.0% (55,517/95,715 pwND) in 2020 and 42.5% (46,315/109,029 pwND) in 2021. Among TM users in 2020 and 2021, the majority had ND-related TM visits (73.2% and 64.6%, respectively); the mean (SD) number of claims was 2.9 (2.8) in 2020 and 2.7 (3.0) in 2021. During the pandemic, nearly 26% of total TM visits (n=296,434) were provided by a neurologist. Mean (SD) age of TM users was similar to nonusers (60.5 [15.1] and 61.5 [15.3] years), but TM users were more likely to be female (62% vs 60%), enrolled in Medicare (33% vs 30%) and reside in western and eastern regions compared with nonusers. The proportion of pwND using TM was highest in Massachusetts (81.3%), Vermont (77.1%) and California (72.4%).

Conclusions About half of pwND in a commercially insured population used TM during the pandemic; its use varied most notably by region and state. Additional analyses will inform gaps in TM access and its long-term utility.

Authors/Disclosures
Anisha Patel, PhD (Genentech Inc.) PRESENTER	Dr. Patel has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Genentech. An immediate family member of Dr. Patel has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Google. Dr. Patel has stock in Genentech Inc.. An immediate family member of Dr. Patel has stock in Google.
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Nikki Win	Nikki Win has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Genentech. Nikki Win has stock in Genentech .
Bryan Cobb, PhD, FACMGG (Genentech)	Dr. Cobb has received personal compensation for serving as an employee of Genentech. Dr. Cobb has stock in Roche. Dr. Cobb has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care.
Marisa P. McGinley, DO (Cleveland Clinic)	Dr. McGinley has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Genentech. Dr. McGinley has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for EMD Serono. The institution of Dr. McGinley has received research support from Biogen. The institution of Dr. McGinley has received research support from Genentech. The institution of Dr. McGinley has received research support from NIH. The institution of Dr. McGinley has received research support from AHRQ.

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