Telehealth: The Wave of the Future for Both Medicine and Enforcement

Since the declaration by the then Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the Public Health Emergency [PHE] on Jan. 31, 2020, telehealth has increased exponentially in large measure due to Congress and CMS's expansion of coverage for telehealth services in the Medicare and Medicaid populations. (See, Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, March 2021, pg. 457.)

In July 2020, a report highlighted the significant increase in telehealth among Medicare beneficiaries, noting that nearly half (43.5%) of Medicare's primary care visits were being provided via telehealth, compared to the 0.1% rate seen in the month prior to the PHE. (See, Medicare Beneficiary Use of Telehealth Visits: Early Data From the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, July 28, 2020.) Similarly, in October 2020 the CDC reported that telehealth visits were up 154% in the last week of March 2020 compared with the same period the previous year. Further, the HHS report noted that, although in-person visits increased a bit into May, the use of telehealth "leveled off at a persistent and significant level by the beginning of" June 2020. (See, Medicare Beneficiary Use of Telehealth Visits, supra.)