Resources & Reports

On January 31, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)  finalized rules for the prescribing of buprenorphine through the use of telehealth (rules first proposed in December 2022). In these final rules, opioid treatment programs (OTPs) will be able to use telehealth to prescribe buprenorphine without an in-person visit. It is important to note that these final rules are not in regard to using telehealth to prescribe a controlled substance in general. This is a very specific rule that applies to OTPs and the use of telehealth to prescribe buprenorphine with some additional applications specifically to methadone.  The broader policy of using telehealth to prescribe controlled substances without an in-person visit (or meeting one of the narrow exceptions found in federal statute) still remains a temporary allowance through the end of 2024.

A recent evaluation of e-visits published by JAMA Network, National Trends in Billing Secure Messages as E-Visits, highlights policy impacts on the often overlooked asynchronous telehealth modality. Within policy discussions much focus is often given to synchronous telehealth, which is live and real-time video conferencing or audio-only visits. However, asynchronous or, store-and-forward telehealth, such as secure messaging, offers additional opportunities and flexibilities for providers and patients, given that it does not occur in real-time.

In December of 2023, a lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for New Jersey, Shannon MacDonald, MD, et al v. Otto Sabando.  In the filing, the plaintiffs (MacDonald and others) claim that New Jersey’s licensure restrictions on the use of telehealth are unconstitutional. Licensure of medical professionals, in this case physicians, is in the jurisdiction of states to decide and regulate. However, the MacDonald v. Sabando case is making the argument that New Jersey’s licensure laws violate the US Constitution as they infringe on basic rights everyone has and therefore should be struck down.

While cybersecurity attacks on hospitals and other health care-related entities are not new, in recent years we have begun to see a steady increase of attacks.  According to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), from 2018 to 2022, there was a 93% increase in large security breaches within healthcare entities.  When health care systems undergo a cybersecurity attack, not only are patients’ sensitive information put at risk, but there can be an impact on direct patient care that can last weeks, such as delayed procedures, patients being routed to other facilities, and cancelled appointments.

Last month the National Institutes of Health (NIH)  announced an expansion of the Home Test to Treat Program, which began during the pandemic to offer free COVID-19 virtual health services, including at-home tests and treatments, as well as telehealth visits. The program has now been expanded to include testing, treatment, and telehealth visits related to the flu. Home testing technology offered initially will be the Pfizer COVID-19 & Flu Home Test, which is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved test that can detect both viruses at the same time.