E-mail visitors between sufferers and suppliers accelerated early within the COVID-19 pandemic as extra sufferers sought distant medical care. The addition of billing codes for digital healthcare providers and subsequent adjustments in insurer cost insurance policies have made it potential for healthcare suppliers to invoice insurers and sufferers for messaging. This evaluation examines the standard prices of e mail messages between sufferers and suppliers in 2020 and 2021, utilizing non-public medical health insurance knowledge.

The standard price for an e mail declare in 2021 was $39, together with each the portion paid by insurance coverage and the portion paid by sufferers. Though the well being plan lined the total price for many of those claims (82%), sufferers with no less than some out-of-pocket prices usually paid $25.

The evaluation is on the market by the KFF-Peterson Well being System Tracker, a web-based data heart that screens and charges the efficiency of the U.S. well being care system.