KFF: What to Know About Medicare Coverage of Telehealth Use of telehealth, which allows patients to see health care providers without being in the same location, has grown rapidly in recent years, among both privately-insured patients and Medicare beneficiaries. KFF released an issue brief, which provides answers to key questions about the current scope [...]
International Journal of Medical Informatics: The Relationship Between Telemedicine Tools and Physician Satisfaction, Quality of Care, and Patient Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic This study found that telemedicine technology has significant positive effects on physicians’ satisfaction with telemedicine and quality of care evaluation, both at an aggregate level and at the disaggregate levels of [...]
American Psychological Association: Audio-Only Telehealth Services Remain a Key Part of Professional Service Nearly half of psychologists say their patients prefer therapy via phone versus other types of telehealth. In 2021, two thirds of psychologists (67%) were conducting telehealth services by phone. By 2023, this percentage fell but remained high: More than 2 in [...]
BMC Health Services Research: The Implementation of Telemedicine in Wound Care The increasing use of telemedicine represents a major shift for health workers and patients alike. This study explored how both health care professionals and patients experienced the implementation of telemedicine follow-up in primary care. The analyses revealed the following themes: (1) enhancing professional [...]
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care: Assessing the Disruption of Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic A Rutgers Health study suggests telehealth could be a viable long-term option for people living with HIV, potentially saving them time, effort and expense related to in-person medical visits. The study found patients receiving in-person [...]
Journal of Substance User & Addiction Treatment: Buprenorphine Discontinuation in Telehealth-Only Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal agencies permitted telehealth initiation of buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) without in-person assessment. This longitudinal cohort analysis found that a telehealth-only platform reduced risk of buprenorphine discontinuation compared [...]
KeyCare: Patients Prefer Telehealth Over In-Office Visits for Urgent, Preventive, and Specialty Care A consumer survey from KeyCare found that patients prefer telehealth to office visits for a variety of medical issues, including urgent care, preventive care, chronic care and specialty services. For minor but urgent issues, such as cough, sinusitis, and rash, almost [...]
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG): Additional Oversight of Remote Patient Monitoring in Medicare is Needed HHS OIG released a report, examining RPM in Medicare. HHS OIG found: The use of remote patient monitoring in Medicare increased dramatically from 2019 to 2022. About 43 percent of enrollees who [...]
FAIR Health: Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker FAIR Health found that in June, telehealth utilization increased nationally and in the West, Northeast and South, but decreased in the Midwest. Nationally, telehealth claim lines rose from 4.82% of medical claim lines in May to 4.89% in June, an increase of 1.5%. In terms of mental health [...]
Minnesota Department of Health: Study of Telehealth Expansion and Payment Parity The Minnesota Department of Health submitted a report to the state legislature and found that telehealth expanded access to health care without appearing to compromise health care quality or patient satisfaction. The Department makes several recommendations, including continuing payment parity, requiring health plans [...]