AHRQ Issues Technical Brief on Telehealth

A new technical brief from AHRQ has found that the research literature on telehealth is vast and varied, consisting of hundreds of systematic reviews and thousands of studies of use across various clinical conditions and health care functions. There is sufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of telehealth in some circumstances, including remote monitoring, communication and counseling for patients with chronic conditions, and psychotherapy as part of behavioral health. For these telehealth applications, the brief concludes, the research focus should shift to how to promote broader implementation and address barriers. However, additional systematic reviews may be helpful for some topics, such as clinician-patient consultation as well as issues related to maternal and child health, where primary studies are available but not synthesized. For other uses, such as triage for urgent care, telehealth is cited as offering potential value, but more studies are needed. Future research also should assess the use and impact of telehealth in new health care organizational and payment models, according to the brief. Access the brief.