About The Study: In this study of telemedicine visits in the first half of 2021 among patients with Medicare, 422,000 patients had an out-of-state telemedicine visit, and they were most common among those who lived near a state border and were largely for primary care and mental health treatment. Early in the pandemic, in an effort to ensure access to care, states implemented temporary changes allowing physicians without a license in their state to provide care to their residents. There is debate on whether to change licensing rules permanently to facilitate out-of-state telemedicine use.
Authors: Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., of Harvard Medical School in Boston, is the corresponding author.
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(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.3013)
