Telehealth and virtual visits have become and will continue to be much more common in 2023, as patients like the convenience. 

A study released by Elevance Health last fall reported 94 percent of patients were satisfied with their use of virtual primary care, and 79 percent indicated it helped them take charge of their health.

“In 2019, there were approximately 900,000 telehealth matters billed in the Medicare-Medicaid database,” reported Peter Kolbert, JD, senior vice president of claim and litigation services at Healthcare Risk Advisors, part of TDC Group in California. “In 2020, that jumped significantly to around 60 million…predominantly driven by COVID-19 and the inability of people to travel and the quick development and dissemination of telehealth platforms across the country, which enabled patients to check in with their physicians remotely.”

David L. Feldman, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAPL, FACS, chief medical officer for The Doctors Company and TDC Group, added that “telehealth is here to stay” and will be a “fixture of the way care is delivered.” However, he expects telehealth usage will decrease in the coming year as patients seek in-person care.

The accounting and consulting firm Deloitte predicts “organizations will need to position virtual health as an integral channel for managing care.”

Kolbert added, “As of yet, we have not witnessed an increase in the number of claims for telehealth; however, we can certainly anticipate more telehealth claims in the coming year.”

When providing telehealth, Feldman cautioned physicians to “remain vigilant, check their licenses, and understand the care they can provide to patients remotely and when to refer to a local provider.” In addition, physicians should remain aware that the patient may be recording the televisits.