Will the Telehealth Trend Continue?

What’s Next?

Legislators and the Administration are beginning to look forward to what the world will look like post-pandemic, and making expanded access to telehealth permanent is at the top of many lists. Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma said, “I think the genie’s out of the bottle on this one [telehealth]. I think it's fair to say that the advent of telehealth has been just completely accelerated, that it has taken this crisis to push us to a new frontier, but there's absolutely no going back.” Several bills have been introduced in Congress and the Administration has included telehealth provisions in a  recent executive order and in regulatory proposed rules.

It is not only the federal government acting. States are considering policies to expand telehealth networks through legislation or regulatory action. In Colorado, a recently enacted bill expands the definition of telehealth to include mental health services. The bill, SB 20-215, also allows for flexibility around what technology can be used for telehealth. This is one of many pieces of legislation NPF's advocacy team is tracking.

Representing the Patient Voice

As these efforts gain momentum, NPF is working to ensure the patient perspective remains a leading voice in the process.

Recently, NPF began leading a telehealth working group, comprised of a diverse set of patient advocacy organizations, to examine what telehealth flexibilities have worked best for patients and should become permanent once the public health emergency has ended.

We have also been asking our Advocacy Action Network members about their experiences with telehealth during the pandemic. Overall, feedback has been positive about telehealth services, but patients have acknowledged challenges for certain types of care. For telehealth appointments with a dermatologist or rheumatologist, some patients have expressed difficultly in showing an outbreak area on camera depending on its location or having a joint inspected through telehealth. Providers have also expressed a concern that for certain appointments being able to physically touch and feel a joint is important, and it isn’t something that can be done through a computer or on the phone.

While telehealth is a vital tool for patients and providers, it cannot replace all in-person care. As we move forward to what the future of telehealth looks like, it is imperative that the patient voice is considered, empowering you to choose whether a telehealth or in-person appointment best meets your health care needs.