Health Care Utilization Rebounded in 2022, Yet Remained Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

As of mid-to-late 2022, health care utilization had bounced back to levels on par with those seen at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the utilization of some non-COVID health care services remained below expectations based on pre-pandemic trends, according to a recent Peter-KFF Health System Tracker analysis. The number of hospital discharges in the third quarter of 2022 was 9.1 million, or 700,000 discharges below the pre-COVID quarterly average in 2018-2019.

The share of adults who visited a doctor in the last 12 months (83.1%) recovered in 2022 after dipping in 2020-2021, but did not reach the percentage seen in early 2019 (85.3%). Similarly, emergency care utilization saw a rebound last year, yet remained below prepandemic levels. The number of physician encounters per person, however, did rebound to 2019 levels as of the third quarter of 2022.

0 Comments
© 2025 MMIT
Jinghong Chen

Jinghong Chen Reporter

Jinghong has been producing infographics and data stories on employer-sponsored insurance, public health insurance programs and prescription drug coverage for AIS Health’s Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits since 2018. She also manages AIS Health’s annual executive compensation database for top insurers and Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates. Before joining AIS Health, she interned at WBEZ, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times Chinese. She graduated from Missouri School of Journalism with a focus on data journalism and international reporting.

Related Posts

covid-vaccine
December 21

COVID-19 Vaccine Commercialization Will Be Costly for U.S. Health System

READ MORE
tablet-computer-charts
July 22

Medical Trend, Increases in Utilization Will Drive Up 2023 Marketplace Premiums

READ MORE
post-default-image
April 9

Health Care Spending Bounces Back, but Still Falls 1% Year Over Year

Read More

GAIN THERAPEUTIC AREA-SPECIFIC INTEL TO DRIVE ACCESS FOR YOUR BRAND

Sign up for publications to get unmatched business intelligence delivered to your inbox.

subscribe today