A report from HHS found massive increases in the use of telehealth helped maintain healthcare access during COVID-19 with behavioral health providers seeing the highest telehealth utilization relative to other providers.
The report produced by researchers in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) https://aspe.hhs.gov analyzed Medicare Fee for Service data in 2019 and 2020. The report also highlights that telehealth services were accessed in more urban areas than rural communities, and Black Medicare beneficiaries were less likely than White beneficiaries to utilize telehealth.
The ASPE report found that the share of Medicare visits conducted through telehealth in 2020 increased 63 fold, from approximately 840,000 in 2019 to 52.7 million. States with the highest use of telehealth in 2020 included Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. States with the lowest use of telehealth in 2020 included Tennessee, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, and Wyoming. The report also found insightful trends on the kinds of services Medicare beneficiaries sought through telehealth.
While overall healthcare visits for Medicare beneficiaries declined in 2020 as compared to 2019, telehealth was particularly helpful in offsetting potential behavioral healthcare. In 2020, telehealth visits comprised a third of total visits to behavioral health specialists, compared to 8% of visits to primary care providers and 3% of visits to other specialists. The findings show an increased interest in seeking behavioral healthcare through telehealth.
To help protect access to care, CMS has announced that for the first time outside of the COVID-19 PHE, Medicare will pay for mental health visits furnished by Rural Health Clinics and FQHCs via interactive video-based telehealth including audio-only telephone calls.
Additionally, CMS is permanently eliminating geographic barriers and allowing patients in their homes to access telehealth services for diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of mental health disorders, including via audio-only communications technology.
To provide more transparency into telemedicine usage, CMS is also releasing a new snapshot showing the number of people with Medicare who utilized telemedicine services between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021. The snapshot includes Medicare FFS claims data, Medicare Advantage encounter data, and Medicare enrollment information.