In order to maximize the full potential of
telehealth, there are three significant hurdles the industry must overcome.
By John League
May 10, 2021
3 reasons telehealth
still faces opposition (despi...
Overview
Across the past year, health care delivery has
changed significantly. And while the capabilities and adoption of telehealth
have come a long way, we’ve yet to tap its full potential.
Continue reading below to understand the three
main reasons why telehealth still faces stubborn opposition. To learn more
about the regulatory changes that have been made to date, and where gaps still
exist, download the full research briefing What health tech leaders need to
know about telehealth.
READ THE FULL
BRIEFING
Telehealth is still
confronted with stubborn opposition
The
first step to establishing telehealth’s permanence in the future is to overcome
resistance on policy changes. This isn’t a new challenge—and despite recent
progress made in telehealth adoption, it is still a large hurdle.
There
are three major reasons for this resistance. First, for many alternative care
delivery methods like telehealth, there have not been good estimates of cost,
leaving open the possibility that MedPAC, CMS, and Congress may fall back on
pre-pandemic perspectives on telehealth. According to the minutes from MedPAC
meetings at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, the costs of telehealth
visits are estimations, with words like “should” and “probably” modifying
dollar amounts. There aren’t many sources reflecting the true cost of providing
care and the associated downstream costs.
Concrete
data outlining costs would help dispel the belief that telehealth is only
additive to care, serving as an “extra” that doesn’t replace any points on the
care continuum. The theory that using digital tools will still require
in-person care could be debunked with data around telehealth visit costs. Most
telehealth applications are designed specifically to avoid duplicative care.
However, the inaccurate view of telehealth as an “extra” is still entrenched
among policymakers, payers, clinicians and patients.
As the
industry tries to move forward, telehealth starts from a frustrating, and
unfortunately familiar place: digital innovation and the opportunities to apply
it to health care will require changes to legislation, regulation, and
reimbursement. CMS and state Medicaid programs have made some progress, but
it’s not yet transformational.
To
learn more about the regulatory changes that have been made to date, and where
there are still gaps, download the full briefing.
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