This is the sixth annual edition of FH® Healthcare Indicators and FH® Medical Price Index, two measures developed by FAIR Health to provide clarity in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Drawing on the independent nonprofit’s national database of billions of privately insured healthcare claims—the largest in the country—these two measures apply different approaches to illuminate different aspects of the national healthcare sector, including, among other factors, trends in the place of service and billed charge and allowed amounts for professional services.

Primary care is at the heart of the healthcare system. Since the early 2000s, however, the nation has been experiencing a primary care shortage, with declining access affecting many Americans. To shed more light on primary care, FAIR Health delved into its database of private healthcare claims—the largest in the nation—as well as other data sources such as US census data and National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) data, to provide an analysis of primary care with a focus on geography, physician versus nonphysician care and primary care specialties. The study also examines allowed amounts, telehealth utilization, diagnoses and behavioral health. Among the key findings:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, drug overdose deaths have increased. At the same time, access to and utilization of substance use disorder treatment services have decreased. In this report, drawing on the nation’s largest repository of private healthcare claims, FAIR Health analyzes substance use disorders and overdoses prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to during the pandemic. Trends in the percentage of patients with a substance use disorder or overdose diagnosis are analyzed, as well as such aspects as age, gender, incidence, relevant substances, states, preexisting mental health conditions, venues of care and provider specialties. Among the key findings:

Post-COVID conditions, also known by such terms as long COVID and post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, have become an issue of growing national concern. Until recently, researchers were limited by the lack of a specific ICD-10 diagnosis code for post-COVID conditions. Effective October 1, 2021, ICD-10 code U09.9 was introduced for “post COVID-19 condition, unspecified.” This report is among the first to use the U09.9 code for research purposes. Drawing on longitudinal data from FAIR Health’s repository of billions of private healthcare claims, this report studies the population of 78,252 patients in the repository who were diagnosed with the U09.9 code from October 1, 2021, to January 31, 2022. That population is analyzed by COVID-19 hospitalizations, age, gender, number of days from initial COVID-19 diagnosis to last post-COVID diagnosis during the study period, preexisting chronic comorbidities, co-occurring diagnoses and risk scores. Among the key findings: