Through the COVID-19 pandemic, digital visits for contraception care shot up in states that mandated telehealth be reimbursed on the identical charge as in-person visits, in line with new analysis published in JAMA.
Researchers discovered that telehealth accounted for 30.5% of contraceptive visits in parity states and 21.6% of visits in nonparity states in the course of the pandemic. Thatup from telemedicine accounting for 1.5% of all contraceptive visits pre-pandemic.
“Findings demonstrated a rise in telecontraceptive visits in states that mandated reimbursement parity vs states that didn’t. This enhance didn’t correspond to a rise in complete contraceptive encounters, suggesting that, though reimbursement parity might have expanded entry to telehealth choices, it didn’t enhance entry to contraception general.”
The cross-sectional research checked out outpatient claims of girls ages 14 to 49, for 10 months earlier than the pandemic after which in the course of the pandemic. The research included 9,279,294 contraceptive claims amongst 34,109,287 enrollees.
WHY IT MATTERS
In response to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 49% of pregnancies are unintended. Telehealth has usually been pitched as a solution to develop entry to contraceptive care companies.
“Will increase in use of telehealth for contraception (telecontraception) in the course of the pandemic current a possibility to develop entry to contraception by way of telehealth,” authors of the analysis wrote. “Reimbursement parity mandates applied by some states in response to COVID-19 required insurers to reimburse for telehealth on the identical charge as for in-person companies, doubtlessly growing entry to telecontraception.”
THE LARGER TREND
Immediately there are lots of digital well being firms working within the contraceptive care house. Nurx, which obtained its begin providing contraception and PrEP prescriptions, has now raised $113 million after finishing a Collection C funding spherical, and entered into settlement to merge with Thirty Madison earlier this 12 months.
Easy Well being, which makes use of telehealth to offer clients with contraception, just lately bought reproductive care firm Emme for an undisclosed quantity.
One other participant within the house is the Pill Club, which scored $41.9 million in enterprise funding in 2021.
Discussion about this post