Telemedicine Trends and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic—World Trade Center Health Program, 2020-2021

Abstract

The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, a limited federal health care program for eligible people exposed to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, expanded telemedicine services during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). We analyzed service use trends from January 2020 through December 2021 to describe how the program implemented telemedicine services. About three-quarters (75%) of telemedicine visits were for mental health–related services. In the second quarter of 2020 (April–June), the number of telemedicine visits per 1000 members (n = 367) increased, exceeding in-person visits (n = 152) by 1.4-fold. The number of telemedicine visits per 1000 members decreased gradually during the rest of the study period but still represented 38% of total visits by the end of 2021. Changes in telemedicine visits were offset by comparable changes for in-person visits, such that the rate of total visits was essentially constant during the study period. Multivariate logistic regression models showed differences in telemedicine visit rates by member type and by demographic characteristics. Survivor members (vs responder members), those self-identified as non-Hispanic Other races (vs non-Hispanic White), those with preferred language not English (vs preferred language English), and those not living in the New York metropolitan area (vs living in the New York metropolitan area) were less likely to use telemedicine. Implementing telemedicine services in the WTC Health Program during the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of extensive collaboration among partners, the capacity to rapidly develop necessary technical guidance, and the flexibility to address frequent regulatory guidance updates in a timely fashion. These lessons learned may guide similar health care providers posed with time-sensitive disruptions of in-person services.