Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC): March 2023 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy MedPAC released its March 2023 report to Congress, which includes brief mentions of telehealth. The report provides a high level background of telehealth during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Audio-only telephone visits were used somewhat more often (by [...]
Medical Care: Health Care–Related Practices in Virtual Behavioral Health Treatment for Major Depression Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic This study found that the shift to virtual health care resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic led to positive outcomes related to engagement for patients with depression and those in need of behavioral health care. Researchers [...]
This update includes: Sign-on letter opportunities Alliance executive director speaks on an Interstate telehealth panel Introduced legislation White House Budget and notable research and news developments
JAMA Network Open: Rates of Primary Care and Integrated Mental Health Telemedicine Visits Between Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Beneficiaries Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic A study in JAMA Network Open tracking telemedicine visits pre- and post-pandemic across the VA reveals increasing inequities between rural and urban communities. Before the [...]
This update includes: Alliance summaries of the DEA NPRM Sen. Warner Statement on DEA NPRM Lawmakers on Both Sides Don't Like DEA's New Telehealth Rules Sign-on opportunity to support the telehealth benefit expansion workers act and notable research and news developments
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Disparities in Telemedicine Literacy and Access in the United States According to a study published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, demographic factors at the county level are associated with low telemedicine literacy. The researchers found that age, sex, race, employment status, income level, marital status, educational attainment, and urban or rural classification [...]
CDC: Percentage of Adults Who Used Telemedicine in Past 12 Months The CDC released data on the percentage of adults who used telemedicine by sex and health insurance coverage. Overall, in 2021, 35.3 percent of adults aged 18–64 years had a telemedicine visit with a health care professional in the past 12 months. The percentage [...]
Spine Journal: Utilization and Satisfaction Remain High Even After Easing of COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions This study aimed to define telemedicine utilization rates during and after the initial height of the COVID-19 lockdown period and to determine patient satisfaction with telemedicine during and after the initial height of the COVID-19 lockdown period for spine patients [...]
Annuals of Medicine: Adaptation of the Tele-Harm Reduction Intervention to Promote Initiation and Retention in Buprenorphine Treatment Among People Who Inject Drugs The Tele-Harm Reduction (THR) intervention is a multicomponent, telehealth-based and peer-driven intervention to promote HIV viral suppression among people who inject drugs (PWID) accessing a syringe services program (SSP). This study examined buprenorphine initiation [...]
Key Care: Consumers Prefer Telehealth to In-Person Visits While Traveling A survey sponsored by KeyCare found that nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) of consumers who needed minor but urgent medical services while traveling in the prior year received care via telehealth visits with their regular physicians or affiliated members of their physicians' [...]