Using Telehealth to Enhance Current Strategies in Alternative Payment Models

In particular, telehealth may play an increasingly important role in alternative payment models (APMs) that are designed to improve quality and contain costs through better coordination. Telemedicine increases clinicians’ ability to work together and with patients to coordinate care—an overarching goal of APMs. 

Policy experts have increasingly recognized telemedicine’s potential impact on APMs, with groups like the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission dedicating time to the topic in recent meetings. In this article, we use 3 examples to illustrate this potential, highlighting how telehealth can enhance strategies that have shown promise or established benefits in APMs.