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Review
. 2022 Dec;49(4):517-530.
doi: 10.1016/j.pop.2022.04.002. Epub 2022 Apr 25.

The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Julia Shaver  1
Affiliations
Review

The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Julia Shaver. Prim Care. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Telemedicine was underused and understudied until the COVID-19 pandemic, during which reduced regulations and increased payment parity facilitated a rapid increase in telemedicine consultation. Telemedicine literature to date suggests that it holds benefits for patients and health care providers, may result in outcomes not inferior to in-person care, and has cost-saving implications. Future research should investigate which conditions are best suited to assess and treat via telemedicine (including physical exam elements), what techniques improve telemedicine communication, how to help patients equitably access telemedicine, and how to best educate the future health care workforce.

Keywords: Access; COVID-19; Education; Health care outcomes; Health equity; Telehealth; Telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Telehealth claims (as a percentage of all claims) in the United States from 2019 to 2021, based on FAIRHealth reported claims data, which includes participating Medicare and private insurance plans.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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