Making Seniors Comfortable With Telehealth Will Be a Goal for Healthcare in 2021

Healthcare Finance News reports that virtual healthcare or telehealth is of vital importance to the senior U.S. population, and increasing their comfort with the format will be an industry priority for 2021. GoHealth estimates that three in five Medicare beneficiaries and seniors nearing eligibility do not know how to use video call technology, mainly because of a lack of access and education. Telehealth reimbursement had also been a sticking point before the pandemic, with stringent rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about what is and is not reimbursable complicating entry. But CMS is now making allowances for reimbursement, and Congress is weighing permanent amendments to the payment landscape for virtual care. A survey released in May from the Alliance of Community Health Plans and the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy said 72 percent of U.S. consumers have dramatically shifted their use of traditional healthcare services, with many delaying in-person care and adopting virtual care due to the pandemic. The data also indicates a huge uptake in telehealth in Medicare especially, climbing from about 10,000 virtual visits a week to about 1.7 million — with older Americans comprising a major percentage. Suggestions for tackling the access challenge to seniors include broader broadband access and a transition from fee-for-service care delivery to value-based care models.