While telehealth has enabled many older adults to receive the care they need during the pandemic, telehealth is not equally available to everyone. Improving telehealth access is important to support patient care. In addition, health equity is a top focus for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) under the current Administration.

A recent HealthTech article offers results of a study presented at the 2022 American Telemedicine Association Conference, as well as suggestions for making telehealth more accessible.

CMMI’s New Strategic Direction

CMMI’s charge to reduce social disparities in healthcare was the focus of a keynote at the Collaborative Care Tech Summit, held June 7-8, 2022, and co-hosted by LeadingAge and the LTPAC Health IT Collaborative. Brad Diephuis, M.D., MBA said that CMMI is moving to embed health equity in every payment model. Diephuis is a senior advisor at CMMI.

CMMI is prioritizing data capture to understand which beneficiaries are being served and to alleviate inequities, Diephuis said. It is also incentivizing providers for serving underserved populations, through the Accountable Health Communities and ACO REACH models.

An article from the July Tech Time, “Worker Shortage Solutions and New CMMI Direction,” presents an outline of CMMI’s current priorities, based on Diephuis’s keynote. You may view his full remarks on-demand through the Summit event page.

Study Indicates Audio-Only Telehealth Creates Disparities

The HealthTech article “Keeping Equity at the Forefront in Telehealth” highlighted the challenges of audio-only telehealth.

A University of Alabama at Birmingham study found that the people who used phone calls for telehealth appointments were more likely to be Black, older, from lower-income Zip codes, and publicly insured. Researchers attempted to get at the heart of the disparity, asking if a disparity existed as long as patients were satisfied with their telehealth appointments.

The answer, ultimately, was yes. Study results showed that people who converted from video to phone visits were more often affected by the digital divide, and they experienced lower satisfaction with their telehealth appointments. Patients enjoyed higher satisfaction with telehealth visits conducted by video.

Solutions and LeadingAge Advocacy Efforts

The article suggested solutions to increase telehealth equity: improving broadband, especially outside of cities, and having phone-based telehealth visits classified as clinical visits for reimbursement purposes. The 2022 LeadingAge Technology and Telehealth Policy Platform encompasses both recommendations.

LeadingAge CAST Telehealth and RPM Selection Tool

For assistance in choosing a telehealth solution, use the LeadingAge CAST Telehealth and RPM Selection Tool. This tool helps providers learn about telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions, narrow available telehealth technologies, and choose the best one to meet their needs.

This tool is one of nine LeadingAge CAST Technology Selection Tools. Each tool includes a white paper, selection matrix, online selection tool, and provider case studies.

Previous Telehealth Recorded Sessions

To learn from other providers about how they leveraged telehealth to increase access to clinicians and mitigate the shortage of caregivers, watch Can Telehealth Address the Shortage of Clinicians & Caregivers. This session was presented at the Collaborative Care Tech Summit, co-hosted by LeadingAge CAST and the LTPAC Health IT Collaborative and held virtually June 7-8, 2022. View this session on-demand by visiting the Summit event page.

Be sure to also watch a recorded webinar that CAST hosted last month on the LeadingAge Learning Hub, Telehealth in Practice: Driving Efficiencies & Improving Outcomes, to learn about the application of telehealth/RPM in different care settings.