Table 4 Characteristics of Identified Telemedicine Encounters in Validation Data Set
From: Validation of use of billing codes for identifying telemedicine encounters in administrative data
Not Telemedicine | Live Interactive Telemedicine | Store and Forward Telemedicine | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Administrative Code Algorithm | No GT or GQ Modifier AND not CPT code 99444 | GT modifier in absence of both GQ and CPT code 99444 | GQ modifier or CPT code 99444 | |
N | 5,909,464 | 3087 | 5004 | p |
Patient Age (years) | < 0.001 | |||
0–17 | 888,045 (15) | 57 (2) | 263 (5) | |
18–24 | 314,227 (5) | 109 (4) | 339 (7) | |
25–44 | 968,258 (16) | 753 (24) | 2769 (55) | |
45–64 | 1,601,736 (27) | 875 (28) | 1470 (29) | |
> 65 | 2,137,198 (36) | 1293 (42) | 163 (3) | |
Patient Race | < 0.001 | |||
Black | 666,111 (11) | 132 (4) | 198 (4) | |
White | 4,998,279 (85) | 2910 (94) | 4095 (82) | |
Other | 70,542 (1) | 15 (1) | 92 (2) | |
Missing | 174,532 (3) | 30 (1) | 619 (12) | |
Patient Insurance | < 0.001 | |||
Commercial | 2,757,532 (47) | 1044 (34) | 4159 (83) | |
Public | 2,899,994 (49) | 1963 (64) | 270 (5) | |
Self-Pay or Missing | 251,938 (4) | 80 (3) | 575 (12) | |
Distance to tertiary care center (miles) | < 0.001 | |||
0–9 | 1,993,372 (34) | 141 (5) | 2096 (42) | |
10–19 | 989,090 (17) | 90 (3) | 1119 (22) | |
20–29 | 509,346 (9) | 39 (1) | 534 (11) | |
30–59 | 803,624 (14) | 526 (17) | 506 (10) | |
60–89 | 841,962 (14) | 2006 (65) | 339 (7) | |
≥90 | 709,626 (12) | 230 (7) | 338 (7) | |
Missing | 62,444 (1) | 55 (2) | 72 (1) | |
Residential County Rural/Urban Status | < 0.001 | |||
Large metropolitan | 3,912,918 (66) | 342 (11) | 4050 (81) | |
Small Metropolitan | 1,169,892 (20) | 713 (23) | 472 (9) | |
Non-Metropolitan | 826,654 (14) | 2032 (66) | 482 (10) | |
Encounter Date | < 0.001 | |||
2016 Quarter 3 (July – Sept) | 1,004,107 (17) | 467 (15) | 699 (14) | |
2016 Quarter 4 (Oct – Dec) | 991,931 (17) | 430 (14) | 635 (13) | |
2017 Quarter 1 (Jan – Mar) | 999,649 (17) | 491 (16) | 935 (19) | |
2017 Quarter 2 (Apr – June) | 991,547 (17) | 572 (19) | 768 (15) | |
2017 Quarter 3 (July – Sept) | 1,002,313 (17) | 495 (16) | 838 (17) | |
2017 Quarter 4 (Oct – Dec) | 919,917 (16) | 632 (20) | 1129 (23) | |
Encounter Provider Specialty | < 0.001 | |||
Primary Care | 1,956,710 (33) | 48 (2) | 46 (1) | |
Emergency Medicine | 998,362 (17) | 0 (0) | 4240 (85) | |
Dermatology | 91,973 (2) | 0 (0) | 717 (14) | |
Medical Specialty | 1,442,710 (24) | 2247 (73) | 1 (0) | |
Surgical Specialty | 879,567 (15) | 580 (19) | 0 (0) | |
Pediatric Specialty | 96,208 (2) | 67 (2) | 0 (0) | |
Psychiatry | 205,831 (4) | 129 (4) | 0 (0) | |
Other | 238,103 (4) | 16 (1) | 0 (0) | |
Unique Providers, number | 6522 | 103 | 76 | NA |