Historically, telehealth was rarely used before Covid.  Insurances often did not allow telehealth to be performed and it was not an option that patients knew of.Covid caused a HUGE increase in telemedicine. There was a 766% increase in telehealth from 2019 to 2020!  

What changes happened? There were major alterations to Medicare in March 2020 which allowed the increase in telehealth to occur.  The CARES Act allowed for patients to see a new physician by telehealth (where in the past the patient needed to be an established patient with that physician). Telehealth can originate from any site (before they needed to be in a physician office like the patient was in their rural primary care physician’s office and having a telehealth visit with a specialist located elsewhere) and even outside of the state the physician was in (before the patient had to be in the same state as the physician). 

Who uses telehealth most? Research has shown that those who use telehealth often have Medicaid or Medicare insurance, black and those earning less than $25,000/year.  Surveys have found that audio-only in contrast to audio-visual) telehealth is often used by Hispanic and black patients.  The primary issue expanding telehealth is the inability for underserved to have computers able to have audiovisual equipment.

Telehealth is still more common than before 2020, but has decreased greatly since its peak in 2020.

What do physicians think of telehealth? An AMA study shows that physicians find that virtual care is difficult due to patient’s limited access to technology, limited patient digital literacy, and patient’s limited access to broadband WiFi (so that video visits are difficult). One benefit is that telemedicine effectively reduced patient no-show visits by half.

Patients most liked telehealth for these reasons: medication refills, reviewing medication options, and discussing test results.

So, if you want to be seen by telehealth, ask your primary care physician if this is an option for you. Telehealth is especially good for visits that do not need an exam: medication refills, reviewing test results, and a dialogue about a patient question.

I hope this helps.