JAMA Network Open: Trends and Characteristics of Buprenorphine-Involved Overdose Deaths Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic This study found that eased rules permitting doctors to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder through telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t result in a rise in the share of overdose deaths involving the drug. The report, from [...]
This update includes: Alliance Urges CMS to Preserve Beneficiary Access to Telehealth Services Virtual Prescribing of Controlled Substances CBO Cost Estimates of Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Renewed and notable research and news developments
Journal of General Internal Medicine: Incorporating TechQuity in Virtual Care Within the Veterans Health Administration: Identifying Future Research and Operations Priorities Personnel from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) published a list of priorities for researchers as they begin to examine real and potential inequities in telehealth. Researchers convened a think tank of clinicians, [...]
American Journal of Managed Care: Integrating Third-Party Apps with Electronic Health Records to Support COVID-19 Response This study found that the health IT market experienced a rapid increase in telehealth EHR integrations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Telehealth EHR integrations were twice as likely to contain specialized capabilities [...]
American Journal of Managed Care: Differences in Telehealth During COVID-19 Between Commercial and Medicaid Enrollees This study found that during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, California managed care enrollees had higher rates of telehealth use compared with Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) enrollees, regardless of insurer. Among FFS enrollees, those enrolled in Medicaid [...]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an updated list of Medicare telehealth services for calendar year 2023, which removes the 151-day restriction. All telehealth codes should now be active through December 31, 2023. Action Needed to Align Payment with Congressional Authority On January 13, 2023, the Alliance for Connected [...]
American Journal of Managed Care: Health Systems and Telemedicine Adoption for Diabetes and Hypertension Care This study examines whether practice size and ownership were associated with more extensive adoption and maintenance of telemedicine for adults with diabetes and/or hypertension during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that solo physician [...]
Longer-Term Effects of Remote Patient Management Following Hospital Discharge After Acute Systolic Heart Failure: The Randomized E-INH Trial Background: The randomized INH (Interdisciplinary Network Heart Failure) trial (N = 715) reported that 6 months' remote patient management (RPM) (HeartNetCare-HF) did not reduce the primary outcome (time to all-cause death/rehospitalization) vs usual care (UC) in patients discharged [...]
North Carolina Medical Journal: Maternal Outreach Through Telehealth for Rural Sites: The MOTHeRS Project The pandemic brought challenges to rural maternal health. The North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP), a statewide telepsychiatry program, used telehealth and health technologies to bring multidisciplinary care to three community-based primary care obstetric clinics. The MOTHeRS (Maternal Outreach [...]
Kaiser Family Foundation: Telehealth Delivery of Behavioral Health Care in Medicaid: Findings from a Survey of State Medicaid Programs Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) surveyed state Medicaid officials about policies and trends related to telehealth delivery of behavioral health services. The survey found that states most commonly reported adding audio-only telehealth coverage of behavioral [...]