Reason Foundation: State Policy Agenda for Telehealth Innovation States rapidly adopted telehealth technology under the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) regulatory flexibilities. Most emergency actions taken during the pandemic are temporary. However, states show a lack of urgency in making comprehensive updates to their telehealth laws in preparation for once the PHE ends. Pioneer Institute, Cicero [...]
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) Usual Source of Care and Telemedicine Use Data CMS announced the public availability of the MCBS data on the usual source of care and telemedicine use in Spring 2021. The estimates are based on data from the third MCBS COVID-19 Rapid [...]
Congressional Research Service: Federal Telehealth Flexibilities in Private Health Insurance During the COVID-19 PHE The Congressional Research Service, a public policy research institute of Congress, released a report summarizing the federal telehealth flexibilities for private health insurance coverage. By informing policymakers of the use of federal telehealth flexibilities in private health insurance brings [...]
This update includes: Alliance statement on cross-state licensure HHS released transition roadmap for COVID-19 policies COVID-19 PHE final renewal President Biden State of the Union remarks and notable research and news developments
American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology: Assessing the Impact of Telehealth Implementation on Postpartum Outcomes for Black Birthing People The COVID-19 pandemic led to the rapid uptake of telemedicine services, which have been shown to be potentially cost-saving and of comparable quality to in-person care for certain populations. However, there are some concerns [...]
JAMA Network Open: Impact of Tele-Emergency Consultations on Pediatric Interfacility Transfers This study found that when comparing telephone-based consultations to those conducted via video telehealth, the latter helped limit pediatric hospital transfers more effectively, limiting unnecessary transfers for patients and their families. According to the study, interfacility transfers can be unnecessary; however, many rural emergency [...]
Trilliant Health: Less Than One Percent of All Telehealth Visits Are for Oncology Care Recent market research shows that less than one percent of all telehealth visits between Q1 2020 and Q2 2022 were for oncology-related care. Of these oncology-related telehealth visits, 73 percent were evaluation and management (E&M) for ongoing cancer care. Conducted by [...]
JAMA Health Forum: Maintaining Health Care Innovations After the Pandemic There were innovations that were born and skyrocketed from the COVID-19 pandemic, including telemedicine access, new hospital-at-home services, and others. The collection of new services with flexible delivery mechanisms suggest a future for digital medicine. Evaluating and perhaps extending the record of successful innovation [...]
JAMA Network Open: Clinical Outcomes and Hospital Utilization Among Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery With Telemedicine Preoperative Care In this cohort study of 1182 patients treated at a US academic hospital, clinical outcomes and postoperative hospital utilization in the telemedicine group were found to be noninferior to those in the in-person group. These results suggest [...]
We are grateful to President Biden for highlighting the pressing issue of cross-state licensure in advance of the State of the Union. The pandemic taught us that it is possible, and safe, to allow providers to treat patients anywhere. State borders should cease to be an artificial barrier to health care. It’s time to change [...]