In a show of bi-partisan support (rare in Washington these days) the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that will extend Medicare coverage for telehealth through the end of 2024. The House approved by a vote of 416 to 12 the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act.
So what exactly is “telehealth”? The simplest explanation is a patient in one location is examined by a doctor in a different location—a doctor who could be a few blocks away or even thousands of miles away—through the use of computers and a secure video link.
These types of doctor-patient consultations are called “e-visits”. Nebraska Medicine says telehealth can include “[i]nteractive videoconferencing to support specialty services in remote communities, remote patient monitoring (RPM) to support patients as they learn to better manage their chronic diseases and improve their overall health, and video ‘house calls’ with patients at home as they recover from surgery or need additional assistance in their care.
In a media release Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), one of the bill cosponsors, said “As we look towards post-pandemic health delivery, it is important that we give our healthcare community certainty that telehealth is here to stay.”
