More than 330 healthcare and industry organizations asked Congress this week to facilitate a pathway to comprehensive, permanent telehealth reform after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.

Co-led by the Alliance for Connected Care, American Telemedicine Association, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Consumer Technology Association, Executives for Health Innovation, Health Innovation Alliance, Healthcare IT News parent company HIMSS, Partnership to Advance Virtual Care and the Personal Connected Health Alliance, the group in its letter outlined several key priorities for giving elected officials time to examine telehealth's effects on patient care while safeguarding access to services.  

"When the COVID-19 pandemic began exposing gaps in our healthcare system, telehealth enabled critical access to high-quality care for patients and providers alike," Tom Leary, senior vice president and head of government relations at HIMSS, said in a statement. 

"With so much uncertainty remaining around telehealth permanence, we now call on Congress to ensure millions of Americans don't lose access to this care and to take action to enact comprehensive telehealth reform," Leary added.  

WHY IT MATTERS

The stakeholders outlined several steps for Congress to chart a path forward regarding virtual care:  

1. Authorizing the continuation of all current telehealth waivers through Dec. 31, 2024, giving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the authority and flexibility to continue relaxing certain restrictions.
2. Requiring HHS to complete all feasible evaluations related to telehealth by fall 2023 and combine findings into a single overarching dashboard with recommendations to inform permanent telehealth legislation by Congress.
3. Taking up permanent, evidence-based telehealth legislation for implementation in 2024, enabling Congress to fully consider data when supporting bills.  

They noted that although the Biden administration can elect to extend the COVID-19 public health emergency – and has done so several times – the PHE's 90-day renewal cycle creates significant uncertainty for the U.S. healthcare system.  

"Congress must act to provide more certainty to beneficiaries and healthcare providers alike, while ensuring sufficient time is taken to analyze the impact of telehealth on patient care throughout the pandemic to inform permanent telehealth reform,” Krista Drobac, executive director of Alliance for Connected Care, said in a statement.  

"Extending the current telehealth waivers – both those authorized by Congress and those allowed under presidential emergency powers – is critical to ensure patients can continue to access needed healthcare services and to allow providers to continue utilizing the telehealth infrastructure implemented throughout the pandemic," Drobac said.  

The letter signers noted the potential for telehealth to help connect members of underserved communities with services and pointed to polls suggesting voters support action to permanently protect virtual care.  

"Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have heard a chorus of support from our members related to the success they are experiencing with telehealth and its reported widespread use and support by patients," said Russell Branzell, president and CEO of CHIME.  

"Keeping the telehealth waivers in place through 2024 will ensure that patients and providers will not abruptly lose access to this successful care delivery method, while giving Congress additional time to work on comprehensive telehealth reform," he added.  

THE LARGER TREND

This past week, dozens of U.S. senators and representatives urged congressional leadership to safeguard Medicare telehealth services for a set period of time, extending past the public health emergency.  

Like the effort from health stakeholders this week, that push would allow more time to gather data around virtual care utilization and efficacy, while avoiding a sudden drop-off in services (or what advocates call "the telehealth cliff").  

ON THE RECORD  

"As Congress works toward a pathway for comprehensive telehealth reform, it is essential that current telehealth waivers be extended through at least 2024," Mara McDermott, executive director at Partnership to Advance Virtual Care, said in a statement. 

"Patients and providers alike need more certainty in care planning than afforded to them through the extension of the PHE every 90 days," she continued.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.