Telehealth use surges at clinics serving lower‐income Americans

Telehealth use has surged during the pandemic at clinics that serve lower‐income Americans, which allowed the clinics to maintain access to care at a time when many other health care organizations saw significant declines in utilization, according to a new RAND study. However, most of the telehealth appointments have been audio‐only visits, which may pose challenges in the future if payers consider dropping reimbursement for such services, according to a RAND news release. The RAND study examined telehealth services provided by 41 health centers that operate 534 physical locations in California. The group included about 20% of the state's federally qualified health centers. Researchers found that while overall visit volume remained stable during the pandemic, about half of primary care medical visits from March to August 2020 were done via telehealth. More than 77% of behavioral health visits were conducted via telehealth during the same period. Prior to the pandemic, there was minimal telehealth use. The breakdown of telehealth visits by type greatly favored telephone‐only service. Among primary care medical visits, 48.5% occurred via telephone, 3.4% occurred via video and 48.1% were in person. For behavioral health, 63.3% occurred via telephone, 13.9% occurred via video and 22.8% were in person. The findings are published in the latest edition of the JAMA .