Telehealth can deliver high-quality, affordable care

Delivering medical care via real-time video or remote physician monitoring has a promising future, yet challenges still remain, according to an article published Aug. 15 in “Health Affairs,” a leading health policy journal.

The article defines “telehealth” as the “use of technology to deliver health care, health information or health education at a distance.” It promotes contact between patients and their health care providers outside of in-person visits. This contact may occur in the form of video conferencing between a patient and physician or the transmission of patient data that a physician reviews later.

Telehealth has the potential to improve access to care for those living in rural areas. It also could also save Americans an estimated $4.28 billion a year.

The hurdles include a patchwork of state and federal regulations related to Medicare and private insurance coverage of telehealth services. Forty-nine states have some coverage for telehealth as it relates to Medicaid reimbursement. Thirty-two states have laws that require private insurers to cover at least some services provided by telehealth. In Oregon, providers, insurers and consumer groups collaborated on a 2015 law that requires coverage of two-way interactive video conferencing.

What’s next? Congress is considering a nationwide Medicare Telehealth Parity Act, to expand coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.

“As the United States moves from uncoordinated, volume-based delivery of health services to an integrated, patient-centric, value-based model, health care delivery will increasingly focus on achieving higher-quality care, improved care access and lower costs,” the article concludes. “In enabling health care organizations to provide high-quality, ‘anytime, anywhere’ care to patients and operate more cost-effectively, telehealth programs play an important role in achieving those goals.”