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Telemedicine burst onto the scene as the nation locked down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Historically, telehealth, or telemedicine, was tightly restricted both by regulation and by payment policy.

But in response to COVID-19's disruption of in-person care, all 50 states and Washington, DC issued temporary waivers that allowed clinicians to administer telehealth care to patients who live in a different state than their provider.

Juan Andino from the University of Michigan joins A Health Podyssey to discuss how interstate telehealth use changed in the face of COVID-19.

Andino and colleagues published a paper in the June 2022 issue of Health Affairs assessing the effect of waivers on interstate telehealth use among Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They found that while the volume of interstate telehealth use increased in 2020, out of state telehealth use continued to make up only a small share of all outpatient visits and all telehealth visits. They also found some interesting patterns on how interstate telehealth has changed.

Order the June 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on costs, care delivery, COVID-19, and more.

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