September 2020 | Avni Gupta, Ann M. Nguyen, Ji Eun Chang, Alden Yuanhong Lai, Carolyn Berry, Donna R. Shelley | Five Ways—Beyond Current Policy—To Truly Integrate Telehealth Into Primary Care Practices
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the corresponding need for social distancing, has catapulted telehealth into the mainstream. According to some estimates, the proportion of ambulatory patient visits using telehealth (video, phone, or e-visit) increased from 10 percent before the pandemic to more than 90 percent during the pandemic. These shifts have been buttressed by temporary policy changes introduced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), including a marked increase in telehealth reimbursement rates. Before the pandemic, a 2019 survey reported that nearly 77 percent of physicians raised reimbursement as a serious obstacle to telehealth adoption. The rapid rise in adoption rates suggest that the CMS policy changes have been welcomed and are effective for providers.