AMA Report Tracks Impact of COVID-19 on Physician Practices

A recent report from the AMA summarizes the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Medicare spending and physician services through the first half of 2020. The report found that spending declined by 57% in April, and though recovered, was still down 8% at the end of the third quarter. Key findings in the AMA report include:

• Spending from the start of the pandemic through September was $11.5 billion or 16% below expected;
• Telehealth accounted for 5.2% of Medicare physician spending from July to September, down from a peak of over 16% of spending in April 2020; and
• Telehealth continues to be concentrated in a handful of service categories, including established patient office visits, telephone calls and mental health services.