ICYMI: JAMA Network Paper Finds Telehealth Provided Similar or “Significantly Better” Quality Compared to In-Person Visits in 13 of 16 Categories
Researchers Say Evidence Supports the Delivery of “Quality Care With Telemedicine”
In case you missed it, a study published this week in JAMA Network, and conducted between March 1, 2020, and November 30, 2021, found telehealth primary care visits were of comparable or “significantly better” quality in more than 80 percent of measured categories compared to traditional, in-person primary care.
The study analyzed the experience of more than 500,000 patients across 16 different types of clinical visit. Researchers found telehealth services led to similar or significantly better primary care quality in 13 of 16 categories.
“This isn’t just one or two measures,” one of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Derek Baughman, told Modern Healthcare. “It’s showing that for most of the measures, we’re providing at least comparable quality.”
The study’s findings highlight telehealth’s ability to improve accessibility and break down barriers to health care compared to relying on in-person care alone. The paper’s conclusion notes the findings support the extension of Medicare flexibilities established during the pandemic in a “world where many patients relying on telemedicine could lose access to health care.”
“It is no longer a hopeful question—can we deliver quality care with telemedicine?—but an evidence-supported statement: we can deliver quality care with telemedicine,” the authors write.
The study adds to the rapidly expanding body of evidence on telehealth’s critical value for consumers and should add to the growing momentum for Congress to act to permanently protect access to virtual care.
Read the full paper HERE.
Read more on how telehealth supports better health outcomes HERE.
Learn more about how Congress can act to permanently protect telehealth access HERE.
ABOUT TELEHEALTH ACCESS FOR AMERICA
Telehealth Access for America (TAFA) is a public education campaign supported by leaders in health care committed to better care, expanded patient choice, and protecting access to critical telehealth services. Learn more and take action today at www.telehealthaccessforamerica.org.