Telehealth & Virtual Service Delivery

Interviews with program administrators and frontline workers across a range of human services programs early in the COVID-19 pandemic provided great insight into the tradeoffs and relative advantages of choosing virtual platforms to administer services from.

This ASPE issue brief examines changes in Medicare fee-for-service primary care visits and use of telehealth at the start of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). This brief seeks to address the issue of how and whether the Medicare telehealth flexibilities introduced to address the COVID-19 pandemic may have helped maintain access to primary health care during the PHE.

Economic Impact Payments under the CARES Act can increase economic independence and labor force attachment among individuals reentering from incarceration through helping cover basic expenses while individuals seek employment and get on their feet.

By Annette Waters, Pamela Winston, and Robin Ghertner April 1, 2020

Health centers are experimenting with telehealth for a range of conditions, working with different types of remote providers, and confronting different telehealth policies and implementation barriers, depending on their locations and payer mix.  This paper explores the experiences of health centers and state Medicaid programs in seven states.

Access to services, particularly behavioral health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services, is challenging in rural and other underserved areas.

This Issue Brief was informed by an ASPE-funded study conducted by RTI International that assessed the use of telehealth to identify and manage SUDs in rural areas. The final research brief included an environmental scan and site visits with participants that represented a wide range of telehealth experiences throughout the country.

This report responds to a request from the Committees on Appropriations of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. It examines the rapid proliferation of telehealth modalities when providing medical care and highlights HHS’s efforts to identify and address obstacles to e-health and telemedicine.

Final Report Prepared for: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services Contract Number: HHS-10-97-0012 Prepared by: The Lewin Group, Inc.