Yashashree
Marne, Health Care Policy Intern
The
Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and
Evaluation (ASPE) recently published an issue brief on the usage of audio and video telehealth services,
based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey from
April-October 2021. Telehealth services have become increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. In
general, adults ages 65 and older are more likely to use telehealth compared to
those ages 18-24 (22 percent vs. 16 percent, respectively), but as the chart
below shows, there are differences in video-enabled and audio-only telehealth
use by age. Young adults ages 18-24 were most likely to use video services for
telehealth visits (72.5 percent of visits), while adults ages 65 and older were
least likely to use video services (43.5 percent). Audio-only telehealth has
been proposed as a way to expand health care access for those
who are unlikely to use video services or with limited ability to access them.
The ASPE report, however, points to preliminary evidence that
video visits may offer better clinical care compared to audio-only visits.
Further research into the value of audio-only versus video telehealth visits
would assist policymakers as they consider long-term changes to Medicare’s
coverage of telehealth services.
https://www.americanactionforum.org/weekly-checkup/telehealth-policy-after-the-pandemic/#ixzz7MIsnn6eN
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