Telehealth Use in Patient-Centered Medical Homes—Survey Results

When in March the COVID public health emergency necessitated a shift from in-person care to telehealth, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) temporarily expanded the scope of services Medicare beneficiaries could receive through telehealth. The Trump Administration recently proposed making some of those expanded benefits permanent.  

In June, NCQA surveyed Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) practices to assess how COVID impacted their adoption of telehealth. The survey—which was completed by about 1,200 people from PCMH practices—found that prior to COVID, 59% of practices reported using telehealth. Since then, 96% of practices have increased their use of telehealth.

 CMS found similar surges in the number of Medicare beneficiaries receiving telemedicine services. According to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, in a recent Health Affairs Blog, before the public health emergency, approximately 13,000 beneficiaries in fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare received telemedicine services in any given week. In the last week of April, nearly 1.7 million beneficiaries received them. When analyzing Medicare FFS claims data, CMS found that that beneficiaries are getting care at similar rates across demographics, with no significant differences by race or ethnicity. 

Although the surge of telehealth visits we saw at the beginning of the pandemic has slowed, 57% of people surveyed stated that they will use telehealth after the public health emergency ends. Most PCMH practices surveyed plan to increase telehealth capabilities in their existing platforms or repurpose existing capabilities to take advantage of policy changes, but 16% plan to invest in new telehealth platforms with more capabilities. 

COVID-19 is a catalyst for telehealth adoption, both in terms of policy and patient behavior change, and NCQA, along with the Alliance for Connected Care and the American Telemedicine Association, convened a Taskforce on Telehealth Policy that released a final report with recommendations for telehealth reimbursement and standards for ensuring high-quality, safe and accessible care while preventing fraud, waste and abuse.  

We know that telehealth is here to stay—now we want to figure out how to maximize the benefits of telehealth services while supporting a high standard of care across the health care system.  

Has the adoption of telehealth affected your work?

Do you intend to invest in telehealth in the next couple of years? 

Share your thoughts in the community forum.