Problems viewing this email?

View Message In Browser

The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Dear John,

A new A Health Podyssey
on
telemedicine was just released this morning. It's a good one.

[link removed]

Advertisement

Telemedicine, Equity, and
COVID-19

There's no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic spurred an increase in
telemedicine use. As Americans were reluctant to venture out of their
homes in the pandemic's early months, both public and private payers
were quick to change telehealth reimbursement policies as hospital
admissions
plummeted
.

According to new research published in the February edition of Health
Affairs by Sadiq Patel and coauthors, 30.1 percent of all outpatient
visits were provided via telemedicine
from
January 2020 to June 2020. The weekly number of telemedicine visits
increased 23-fold during the same time period.

Patel and Michael Barnett
join Alan
Weil on today's A Health Podyssey

to discuss variation in telemedicine use during the pandemic, the speed
of their research, and where the telemedicine field may be heading.

Prior to 2020, telehealth hadn't yet become a mainstream avenue of care
,
but behavioral health services had largely adopted the option. The
COVID-19 pandemic helped that trend along.

Mental health conditions, which have increased in prevalence since the
pandemic began
,
saw the highest proportion of telehealth visits in the COVID-19 period.
More than 50 percent of depression, bipolar disorder, and
anxiety-related health care visits for commercially insured and Medicare
Advantage enrollees took place via telehealth between March and June
2020.

Despite this increase in uptake, there are concerns that reliance on
telemedicine may exacerbate health disparities. Many point to the
"digital divide
,"
or differences in the accessibility of internet services and technology
tools to access telehealth care.  

For more on telehealth, check out our blog posts

andjournal articles

on this increasingly important topic.

Rurality often intersects with other social determinants of health,
including race/ethnicity. Today, as part of our Elevating Voices series
during Black History Month, we look back at an article published by
Health Affairs in December 2019. In the piece, Carrie E. Henning-Smith
and
coauthors
examine racial/ethnic differences in premature death among rural
residents and how those differences are influenced by contextual,
demographic, and structural factors.

The authors argue that policies to address inequities should address
"economic vitality and current and historical political context."

[link removed]

Yes, COVID-19 Changed Telemedicine Use-But It's Complicated

Listen to Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interview Michael
Barnett and Sadiq Patel from Harvard on how telemedicine use changed
during the COVID-19 pandemic and where the field may be heading.

Listen Here

Worthy Of Your Time

An Oral Health Equity Agenda For The Biden Administration

Melissa Burroughs, Danny A. Kalash, Colin Reusch, Ifetayo B. Johnson,
and Kata M. Kertesz

Getting Full Benefit From Silver Loading: How The Biden Administration
Can Regulate To Make Care More Affordable

Andrew Sprung and David Anderson

Join Us At Health Affairs

Do you want to make a difference in health care?

Health Affairs is hiring for a number of roles including a product and
development manager, a social media manager, and other editorial roles.

View the job listings

[link removed]

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

mailto:[email protected]

About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal
at the intersection of health,
health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal
is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found
through healthaffairs.org , Health Affairs Today
, and Health Affairs Sunday
Update .  

Project HOPE is a global health and
humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local
health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has
published Health Affairs since 1981.

Copyright © Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Health Affairs, 7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States

Privacy Policy

To unsubscribe from this email, click here
.
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

Health Affairs, 7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States