Medicare beneficiaries had about 60 million telehealth visits per year between 2021 and 2023, according to a February study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Co-author and University of Utah assistant professor Terrence Liu, MD, broke down the findings March 6 in The Conversation. He said the team derived insights from the “Medical Expenditures Panel Survey.”
Roughly 31 million and 29 million appointments were for mental health and other health issues, respectively. Those relying on telehealth were more likely than those attending in-person visits to be sicker and confronting physical and functional barriers, he added.
“The overall evidence suggests that telehealth can help improve access to care and appears to be a reasonable alternative — either by itself or as a complement to in-person care for certain medical conditions,” Dr. Liu said.
Recently, health systems have been preparing to expand telehealth offerings after the federal government extended Medicare reimbursement for two years.
In 2019, just before the pandemic, total Medicare enrollment was about 61.5 million. CMS reported 910,490 telemedicine users in Medicare in the year leading up to the pandemic. Users increased to 28,255,180 in the pandemic’s first year, amounting to 53% of beneficiaries.
In his article, Dr. Liu said there is still room for inquiry with the quality of care received through telehealth.
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