Number of virtual care cases skyrocketed 379 % amidst the pandemic
The outbreak of the pandemic revealed an interesting tendency. Nowadays, pet owners in the US warmly are more willing to use online veterinary care services like getvethelp.com after trying them out during lockdown.
As can be seen from the data in the pet health insurance program presented by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), there was a significant increase by 379% in claims submitted for telehealth services and consultations provided over the phone or online between March 2020 – February 2021 compared to the same period 1 year earlier.
Interesting that comparing April to March 2020 we can clearly see a 170 % growth in telehealth claims volume, whereas virtual health services kept surging by 240 % when comparing October 2020 to September same year.
“Our everyday lives have already changed since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and pet owners lives and behavior was affected the same way,” says Wendy Hauser, DVM, assistant vice president of veterinary relations for Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group, the original pet health insurance providers in the U.S. for ASPCA. “While a great number of clinics, hospitals, and other health facilities, have performed changes to reduce in-person exposure at their physical premises, it is increasingly apparent that digital care has become our new normal and telehealth services, – a handy solution in certain circumstances.”