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Opportunities exist to strengthen evaluation and oversight of telehealth for behavioral health in Medicaid
Opportunities exist to strengthen evaluation and oversight of telehealth for behavioral health in Medicaid
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Data brief (United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Inspector General)
- Contributor(s):
- United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Inspector General. Office of Evaluation and Inspections, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, D.C. : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, September 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Fraud -- prevention & control
Government Regulation
Medicaid -- economics
Mental Health Services -- organization & administration
Telemedicine -- organization & administration
United States
United States. Department of Health and Human Services - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Why OIG Did This Review. States are increasingly relying on telehealth to provide behavioral health services to Medicaid enrollees. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth was an important tool for States to increase access to behavioral health services for enrollees in rural or underserved areas with provider shortages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, States expanded their use of telehealth to help meet the needs of enrollees while also reducing the risks from community spread of the virus. As the Nation confronts the psychological and emotional impact of COVID-19, the use of telehealth will be important in addressing behavioral health needs for Medicaid enrollees. This data brief provides insight into State evaluations and oversight of telehealth for behavioral health services as of January and February 2020, before the expansion of telehealth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides a useful foundation to inform the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and State decisions about how to evaluate the impacts of telehealth on access, cost, and quality of behavioral health services and to strengthen oversight of program integrity. Evaluating the effects of telehealth on access, cost, and quality is particularly important in helping States make decisions about how best to use telehealth and about which populations benefit most from these services. Understanding States’ efforts to oversee telehealth can help States protect their Medicaid programs. Further, States’ expansion of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has been largely on a temporary basis. As States consider making telehealth expansions permanent, States can use information in this data brief to help determine which services best support enrollees. This data brief is a companion report to a data brief that describes the challenges States reported with using telehealth to provide behavioral health services to Medicaid enrollees.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (22 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918383984706676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918383984706676