Diplomate Spotlight Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook Read Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook
Phoenix Newsletter - July 2025 Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration Read Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration
Home Research Research Library The Disproportionate Impact of Primary Care Disruption and Telehealth Utilization During COVID-19 The Disproportionate Impact of Primary Care Disruption and Telehealth Utilization During COVID-19 2024 Author(s) Morgan, Zachary J, Bazemore, Andrew W, Peterson, Lars E, Phillips, Robert L, and Dai, Mingliang Topic(s) Role of Primary Care Keyword(s) Practice Organization / Ownership, and Prime Volume Annals of Family Medicine Source Annals of Family Medicine PURPOSE The COVID-19 pandemic not only exacerbated existing disparities in health care in general but likely worsened disparities in access to primary care. Our objective was to quantify the nationwide decrease in primary care visits and increase in telehealth utilization during the pandemic and explore whether certain groups of patients were disproportionately affected. METHODS We used a geographically diverse primary care electronic health record data set to examine the following 3 outcomes: (1) change in total visit volume, (2) change in in-person visit volume, and (3) the telehealth conversion ratio defined as the number of pandemic telehealth visits divided by the total number of prepandemic visits. We assessed whether these outcomes were associated with patient characteristics including age, gender, race, ethnicity, comorbidities, rurality, and area-level social deprivation. RESULTS Our primary sample included 1,652,871 patients from 408 practices. During the pandemic we observed decreases of 7% and 17% in total and in-person visit volume and a 10% telehealth conversion ratio. The greatest decreases in visit volume were observed among pediatric patients (−24%), Asian patients (−11%), and those with more comorbidities (−9%). Telehealth usage was greatest among Hispanic or Latino patients (17%) and those living in urban areas (12%). CONCLUSIONS Decreases in primary care visit volume were partially offset by increasing telehealth use for all patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the magnitude of these changes varied significantly across all patient characteristics. These variations have implications not only for the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also for planners seeking to ready the primary care delivery system for any future systematic disruptions. ABFM Research Read all 2019 Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach Go to Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach 2014 Which family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse midwives Go to Which family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse midwives 2022 How the Gender Wage Gap for Primary Care Physicians Differs by Compensation Approach : A Microsimulation Study Go to How the Gender Wage Gap for Primary Care Physicians Differs by Compensation Approach : A Microsimulation Study 2013 Factors influencing family physician adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) Go to Factors influencing family physician adoption of electronic health records (EHRs)
Author(s) Morgan, Zachary J, Bazemore, Andrew W, Peterson, Lars E, Phillips, Robert L, and Dai, Mingliang Topic(s) Role of Primary Care Keyword(s) Practice Organization / Ownership, and Prime Volume Annals of Family Medicine Source Annals of Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2019 Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach Go to Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach 2014 Which family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse midwives Go to Which family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse midwives 2022 How the Gender Wage Gap for Primary Care Physicians Differs by Compensation Approach : A Microsimulation Study Go to How the Gender Wage Gap for Primary Care Physicians Differs by Compensation Approach : A Microsimulation Study 2013 Factors influencing family physician adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) Go to Factors influencing family physician adoption of electronic health records (EHRs)
2019 Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach Go to Research gaps in the organisation of primary healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries and ways to address them: a mixed-methods approach
2014 Which family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse midwives Go to Which family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants or certified nurse midwives
2022 How the Gender Wage Gap for Primary Care Physicians Differs by Compensation Approach : A Microsimulation Study Go to How the Gender Wage Gap for Primary Care Physicians Differs by Compensation Approach : A Microsimulation Study
2013 Factors influencing family physician adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) Go to Factors influencing family physician adoption of electronic health records (EHRs)
