Abstract
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth in home health care (HHC). However, the extent and sustainability of telehealth use among Medicare-certified HHC agencies remain unclear.
Objective:
To examine the adoption and utilization of telehealth modalities among U.S. HHC agencies following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
A nationally representative survey of 474 Medicare-certified HHC agencies assessed telehealth use, modalities, and purposes, comparing adoption patterns between urban and rural agencies.
Results:
Overall, 69% of agencies used telehealth, primarily for care coordination, virtual visits, monitoring, and care initiation. Urban agencies more often adopted video-based modalities, whereas rural agencies relied on audio-only modalities, reflecting broadband access and digital infrastructure disparities. Although telehealth utilization increased during the pandemic, some agencies later discontinued use.
Conclusions:
Telehealth supplements HHC but remains fragile without Medicare reimbursement and a strong infrastructure. Targeted investments and reimbursement policies are critical for equitable, sustainable integration of telehealth in post-acute care.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.