Key Findings from RAND Health Care Research on Telehealth Policy
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Although virtual health care has been on the horizon for years, telehealth use exploded in the early days of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic—it increased by more than 4,000 percent in March 2020 over the previous year, by some measures (FAIR Health, 2020). Pre-pandemic policies regarding the specifics of telehealth service reimbursement, which had been in place to limit overspending and potential fraud, were temporarily waived to ease access to care during the public health emergency (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2021; Public Law 116-136, 2020). More recently, telehealth use has leveled off as in-person care has begun to resume. Policymakers and payers must decide which policy waivers should remain in place.
RAND Health Care researchers have been using public and private data, such as data from health care claims, to understand telehealth's effect on health care delivery and how it affects care quality, access, equity, and costs. Researchers have also been working with an array of partners, including the National Institutes of Health, private payers, and telehealth services and app companies that work directly with patients to conduct studies to assess the impacts and effectiveness of particular services. Researchers have conducted randomized controlled trials and interviews and surveys of the general public, telehealth patients, and health care providers. This document synthesizes key findings from recent RAND research on telehealth.
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