During the COVID-19 crisis, telemedicine services have changed the way millions of patients receive care for their physical and mental health. Health insurers were facilitating access to telemedicine before his COVID-19, but during the pandemic it was the single biggest growth area. Health insurers prioritized telehealth to ensure that those in need received care, and in response nearly 70% of healthcare providers increased their use of telehealth.

Telemedicine adoption and satisfaction is skyrocketing, but long-term access to telemedicine services remains a challenge, especially for America’s elderly and historically underserved communities. . Health insurance providers are working to close these access gaps and ensure that telemedicine and other forms of virtual care are supported and scaled to ensure affordable access to care for all patients. We are taking important steps.

Health insurers are removing barriers to telemedicine. This is to reduce costs for patients, increase availability of health care providers, increase patient choice of physicians and clinicians, and improve the quality of care.

Reduce costs

• Common cost-saving benefits of telemedicine include better management of chronic diseases, reduced transportation costs, and shorter or shorter hospital stays.
• In a recent study, patients who used telemedicine to see their providers during emergency care visits were able to avoid unnecessary tests, saving an average of $118 per episode of treatment.
• According to the JD Power white paper on Telehealth Adoption and Use, “If a provider were able to reduce emergency department visits by 1% by increasing telehealth adoption, the average emergency department savings would be $1192 million annually. will be.”

Increase provider availability and give patients more choice

• Telemedicine expands patient access to a wider variety of healthcare providers and professionals. Increased access to telemedicine continues to ensure patients receive the care and support they need. This includes services such as mental health care, routine check-ups for chronically ill patients, her one-off emergency care needs such as rash assessments, and assistance in determining health status. – Needs person care, such as behavioral health services for children with developmental disabilities.
• This allows patients who want to receive services from providers with specific expertise and/or from people of similar gender, race, background, especially if they are difficult to find or see locally It helps you adapt to the situation.
• Telemedicine can also improve access to healthcare, especially in rural areas, by allowing patients to connect with doctors in seconds rather than driving long distances to a clinic.

Improving quality of care

• In a Massachusetts General Hospital survey of telemedicine use, 83% of survey participants said the quality of care provided by telemedicine was equal to or better than in-person visits. Also, two-thirds of his participants rated the visit as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale.
• According to a JD Power survey, telemedicine services have an overall customer satisfaction score of 860 (out of 1,000), the highest among all healthcare, insurance and financial services industry surveys.

A number of policy changes have been made during the COVID-19 crisis to enhance and improve both the use and access of virtual care. It is critical that these changes are maintained or made permanent beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency. The U.S. Senate can take swift action to achieve this by voting on the bill passed by the House to extend Medicare’s telemedicine flexibility through 2024.

Policymakers at the federal and state levels can support telemedicine as an essential pathway to increasing affordability, quality, and choice for Americans. By allowing telemedicine to count as a separate healthcare setting, its value should be recognized and visits counted towards network adequacy requirements, risk adjustment calculations, and quality measures. Rolling back these policies would revert the virtual practice and limit convenient access to the practice for many patients.

Health Insurance Providers Continue to Push for Solutions to Power Telemedicine—Both during and beyond COVID-19.