Telehealth Research, Reports and Surveys
Healthcare Dive: Telehealth claims drop to lowest level since before pandemic, Fair Health finds (9/9) – According to new data
from Fair Health, telehealth claim lines as a percentage of all medical claims dropped 10 percent from May to June, despite a month of stability. Virtual care claims fell from five percent of all medical claims in May to 4.5 percent in June, the lowest level recorded since the start of the pandemic. Telehealth use had previously risen two percent from April to May for comparison, following three months of declines. The sharpest decrease in telehealth use occurred in the Northeast region, where utilization fell 12 percent from May to June.
University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation: An evaluation of telehealth use by Medicare beneficiaries in 2020 (9/8) – This policy brief examined national Medicare claims data to better understand whether the use of telehealth led to an increase in the overall volume of outpatient evaluation and management (E&M) services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries. The study findings mitigated some concerns that telehealth expansion will increase the overall use of services – while telehealth use surged during the early months of the pandemic, it plateaued through the end of December 2020. Additionally, the increase in telehealth use has not led to an increase in the overall volume of E&M services, suggesting that telehealth is still being used as a substitute for in-person care.
Healthcare Dive: Hospital telehealth leveling off at one-fifth of medical appointments, research finds (9/7) – A new survey
from KLAS Research and the Center for Connected Medicine found that the use of telehealth for patient visits seems to have leveled off at 20 percent or fewer of all appointments. Over 80 percent of hospital executive respondents to the survey, which was conducted between May and June 2021, said one-fifth or fewer of their facility’s appointments were being conducted virtually, with many systems with 30 percent or more of services being virtual responding that they anticipate this percentage to decline as the pandemic wanes. Despite these statistics, many provider organizations continue to look to expand their virtual care services to better manage patient populations while keeping costs down, including through chronic care management, behavioral health and urgent care.
mHealth Intelligence: Mayo Clinic RPM Model Improves Outcomes for Acute COVID-19 Treatment (9/7) – According to a study
by Mayo Clinic, remote patient monitoring programs are safe, feasible, and yield positive health outcomes for acute COVID-19 treatment. The health system expanded its multi-state RPM program during the pandemic to treat patients with the virus at home, adapting an original RPM program that helps patients with chronic care management to support COVID-19 patients. Thus far, 7,074 patients across 41 states have participated in one of two RPM models, depending on their risk factors, between March and November 2020. Only 9.4 percent of all patients were admitted to the hospital within 30 days of enrollment or discharge, and the average length of stay was three days for low-intensity patients and 6.4 days for high-intensity patients.
Aledade: Getting the Price Right: Looking Toward the Future of Telehealth (9/3) - Aledade’s policy team provided their recommendations for a flexible and equitable payment model for telehealth services in their new policy paper Getting the Price Right: Looking Toward the Future of Telehealth. Aledade asserts that, in a value-based care model, integrating telehealth can help ensure that primary care practices can have hybrid models of care, seeing patients both in-person and virtually, while making sure that the primary care relationship can continue and thrive.
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