Telehealth Usage Soars: 63-Fold Increase Among Medicare Users in 2020

Telehealth has seen a dramatic rise in usage, particularly during the 2020 health crisis. A study showed that telehealth accounted for nearly a quarter of patient-provider contacts in the first four months of the pandemic, up from just 0.3% in the same period in 2019. Among Medicare users, nearly half had used telehealth in 2020, marking a 63-fold increase. This shift was facilitated by temporary legislation that allowed for more telehealth visits to be reimbursed and relaxed state licensing restrictions. By the end of 2023, over 10% of Medicare patients were still using telehealth. In some specialties, the rate was even higher: 37% of mental health visits, 10% of obstetric appointments, 10% of transplant appointments, and 11% of infectious-disease appointments were conducted via telemedicine. Despite its benefits, the regulatory environment remains a challenge, with ongoing efforts to make these flexibilities permanent and to streamline licensing across state lines.

Source: www.technologyreview.com