On April 14, LeadingAge Staff attended MedPAC’s April public meeting session on telehealth quality, access, and cost in advance of a Congressionally mandated report on telehealth due in June. Although the advisory panel noted that expanded telehealth access during the pandemic increased access to care, the impacts on care quality and cost couldn’t be determined due to specific data limitations and the unknown impacts of COVID-19 on the results of their analysis.

Many of the panelists also noted the lack of distinction between various technology services under the telehealth definition, including remote patient monitoring (RPM) and chronic care management (CCM), all of which needs to be studied at a more granular level. Congress extended access to expanded telehealth services through 2024 in the FY23 government spending bill. Meanwhile, the panelists said the committee hopes to offer more guidance as better data becomes available. 

More information on MedPAC’s public meeting schedule can be found here.