Moving On From Telehealth-By-Desperation: What Will Make Telehealth Stick

Reports in April indicated that as many as 90% of physicians in the United States were utilizing some form of telehealth technology to treat patients remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that 22–30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries received telehealth services from March through June. Estimated growth rates are in the thousands of percentage points. But even as the pandemic persists, evidence is already emerging that telehealth use has peaked, and providers are starting to abandon it. This Health Affairs blog post written by Lori Uscher-Pines offers some strategies to ensure continued use of the technology, including safeguarding HIPAA compliance and addressing treatment quality concerns.