Epic Research: Telehealth Visits Unlikely to Require In-Person Follow-Up Within 90 Days On December 13, Epic Research released a study on revisit rates from telehealth visits. The study found that telehealth visits were unlikely to require in-person follow-up visits within 90 days. Key Findings In nearly every specialty studied, most patients who had [...]
Health Affairs: Audio-Only Telemedicine In Primary Care: Embraced in the NHS, Second Rate in the U.S. Use of telemedicine in primary care soared in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and remains well above pre-pandemic levels. In the US, a major enabler of this shift is equal reimbursement across video, audio, and [...]
Health Affairs: New Coding Modifier Offers Opportunity to Investigate Audio-Only Telehealth (11/18) – Prior to the pandemic, Medicaid program coverage of audio-only telehealth services was limited. During the early stages of the pandemic, Medicaid beneficiaries were significantly less likely to complete telehealth visits compared to commercially insured patients. In September 2021, the American Medical [...]
On November 17, 2022, the Alliance for Connected Care and the Healthcare Leadership Council held a virtual discussion about telehealth data on November 17, 2022. Attendees heard from Dr. Ethan Booker from MedStar, Dr. Jackie Gerhart from Epic, and Brenna O'Malley from Ascension on current telehealth data and implications on health care utilization, [...]
New England Journal of Medicine: Health Care Access on the Line — Audio-Only Visits and Digitally Inclusive Care Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine share a perspective on ensuring digitally inclusive care. "Audio-only visits continue to be an essential option for patients who lack the resources — including Internet and device access and digital [...]
JAMA Network Open: Use of and Retention on Video, Telephone, and In-Person Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic A study published in JAMA Network Open found that patients who were younger, male, Black, unknown race, Hispanic, non–service connected, or who had certain comorbidities were significantly less likely to receive telehealth. [...]
Bipartisan Policy Center: The Future of Telehealth After COVID-19 The Bipartisan Policy Center released a report and a Medicare data analysis to inform policy decisions for telehealth. The report provides an overview of telehealth flexibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as recommendations that address immediate policy questions of whether certain flexibilities should remain permanently available [...]
RAND Corporation: Audio-Only Telehealth Remains Common at Safety Net Health Clinics According to a recent RAND Corporation report, rapid adoption of telehealth helped safety net clinics in California to maintain consistent levels of service after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the use of audio-only care has persisted in the clinics longer than in other [...]