Objective: To understand the impact of telehealth on message volume in primary care providers.

Materials and Methods: We used EHR audit-log data of primary care attendings in internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, and family medicine in a single US health system using the Epic EHR system from May 2019 to July 2021. Interrupted time series analysis using mixed effects modeling was used to assess the pre and post intervention (i.e. implementation of telehealth) trend and intervention associated changes in message volume.

Results: Unadjusted analysis of message volume showed no significant pre-intervention trend, increased level of message associated with the intervention, and decreasing post-intervention trend. Adjusted analysis demonstrated varying trends and intervention associated level changes amongst different specialties.

Discussion: The impact of telehealth on message volume was not uniform across four different primary care specialties. However, there is a general pattern of message volume normalizing to the level seen before the implementation of telehealth at the end of the observation period.

Conclusion: Given that telehealth is likely to remain in use as we transition out of COVID-19 pandemic to endemic, healthcare systems must work towards minimizing the burden of use for the providers.