Want to Improve Health Care Quality and Access? Link Permanent Telehealth Expansion to Value

Telehealth quickly emerged as one of the few silver linings of COVID-19. Suddenly, the technology that had been promising for decades to improve access to care, streamline clinical workflows and boost patient engagement had the critical mass it needed to prove its mettle.

Clearly linking telehealth reimbursement to established value-based quality models would ensure that patients who receive telehealth services are receiving it because it is the best care for the situation, not because it is the most profitable service line.

Here again, linking payment to outcomes would incentivize the adoption and integration of the right technologies as opposed to the stop-gap emergency solutions many practices put in place during the pandemic.

It is critical that we take the lessons learned about patient behavior and engagement forward as we shape the future of health care in this country.