Telehealth is no longer an optional add-on or a temporary solution. For many practices, it is built into daily scheduling, chronic care follow-ups, behavioral health visits, and post-discharge check-ins. Patients now expect virtual options, and staff have adapted workflows around them.
However, many of the telehealth rules your practice relies on are still temporary. If they expire, it could impact how you schedule patients, bill payers, document visits, and maintain continuity of care. That uncertainty is why the American Medical Association (AMA) is pushing lawmakers to make pandemic-era telehealth rules permanent on January 30, 2026.
Telehealth Is Now Standard Care — Not a Temporary Fix
Before COVID, telehealth use was limited and often seen as niche or experimental. That changed rapidly when in-person visits became difficult or unsafe. What started as an emergency workaround quickly proved to be an effective, reliable care option.
- In 2018, only 25.1% of physicians used telehealth
- By 2024, that number grew to 71.4%, with most providers using it weekly
This level of adoption shows telehealth is now embedded in routine care delivery. Many practices redesigned scheduling templates, staffing models, and patient communication around virtual visits — changes that are not easily reversed without disruption.
Why Pandemic Telehealth Flexibilities Mattered So Much
Pandemic-era telehealth waivers removed barriers that had limited virtual care for years. Practices were finally able to use telehealth in ways that matched real-world patient needs rather than outdated regulations.
These flexibilities allowed practices to:
- Schedule telehealth visits regardless of patient geography
- Treat the patient’s home as an approved site of care
- Use audio-only visits when video was not feasible
- Expand behavioral health and remote patient monitoring
- Receive Medicare reimbursement for many virtual services
For staff, these changes meant fewer cancelled appointments, better continuity of care, and clearer workflows for follow-ups. For patients, it reduced missed care caused by transportation, mobility, or scheduling barriers.
Why the AMA Is Sounding the Alarm Now
Despite telehealth’s success, Congress has only extended these flexibilities in short-term increments. Many of those extensions occur close to expiration dates, leaving practices scrambling to interpret new rules.
According to the AMA, this “last-minute” approach creates unnecessary risk for patient care and provider operations. AMA President Dr. Bobby Mukkamala noted that this uncertainty affects millions of patients and physicians who depend on telehealth for routine and chronic care. Without stable rules, practices cannot confidently invest in staff training, technology, or long-term care models.
Telehealth Directly Improves Patient Access and Equity
Telehealth has proven especially valuable for patients who face barriers to in-person care. These include rural patients, elderly patients, individuals with disabilities, and those balancing work or caregiving responsibilities.
Data shows that access is still uneven:
- 44.6% of urban adults used telehealth
- Only 38.6% of rural adults had access
Permanent telehealth policies would help close this gap by ensuring patients can continue receiving care without travel burdens. For practice staff, this means fewer last-minute cancellations and more consistent engagement from hard-to-reach patients.
Telehealth Helps Practices Do More With Limited Staff
Staffing shortages remain one of the biggest challenges in healthcare. Telehealth helps practices stretch limited resources without sacrificing quality of care.
In 2024:
- 95% of HRSA-funded health centers used telehealth for primary care
Telehealth allows practices to balance in-person and virtual visits, reduce room turnover pressure, and improve provider scheduling efficiency. For front-desk and clinical staff, this often results in smoother patient flow and fewer bottlenecks throughout the day.
The Results Are Real: Better Outcomes and High Patient Satisfaction
Telehealth is not just popular — it delivers measurable clinical and operational benefits. Patients are more likely to attend visits when travel and time barriers are removed.
Key outcomes include:
- 28+ million Medicare patients used telehealth during the pandemic
- Remote monitoring led to a 35% reduction in hospital admissions for chronic care patients
- Patient satisfaction with payer telehealth increased by 18 points from 2023 to 2024
For practices, these outcomes translate into better adherence, fewer emergency escalations, and stronger patient relationships.
The “Telehealth Cliff” Is a Real Risk
The consequences of losing telehealth access are not theoretical. When temporary telehealth flexibilities briefly expired during a late-2025 federal shutdown, usage dropped sharply.
- Telehealth visits fell 24% almost immediately
This sudden drop shows how dependent patients and practices have become on virtual care. Without permanent rules, even short gaps in policy can disrupt care plans and create confusion for staff and patients alike.
What the AMA Wants Made Permanent (And Why It Matters to You)
The AMA is advocating for clear, stable telehealth policies that reflect how care is delivered today. These priorities directly affect your billing, scheduling, and compliance workflows.
- Fair and Predictable Telehealth Reimbursement
Practices need assurance that telehealth visits will continue to be reimbursed appropriately. Without payment stability, offering telehealth becomes financially risky, especially for small and independent practices.
- Protection of Audio-Only Visits
Not all patients have reliable broadband or video-capable devices. Audio-only visits remain essential for medication management, behavioral health, and follow-up care, particularly for elderly and rural patients.
- Flexible Sites of Care
Allowing patients to receive telehealth from home removes unnecessary administrative barriers. This flexibility supports continuity of care and reduces missed appointments.
- Continued Behavioral Health Telehealth Access
In 2024, 67% of telehealth visits for commercially insured patients were for behavioral health. Permanent access is critical to addressing ongoing mental health demand without overwhelming in-person services.
Why Medicare and Medicaid Policies Matter Most
Medicare
Telehealth plays a major role in helping Medicare patients manage chronic conditions. In late 2023, 12.6% of Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth, showing sustained demand beyond the pandemic.
Permanent Medicare telehealth rules would allow practices to maintain stable workflows and prevent gaps in care for high-risk patients.
Medicaid
Telehealth has also produced meaningful cost savings for Medicaid, ranging from $155,000 to $181 million. These savings come from improved chronic care management and reduced emergency utilization.
For practices serving Medicaid populations, permanent telehealth access is essential to maintaining equity and financial sustainability.
What Medical Practices Should Do Right Now
While lawmakers debate permanent solutions, practices should prepare for continued scrutiny of telehealth services. Staff training and documentation accuracy are critical during this transition period.
Action steps include:
- Reviewing which services depend on telehealth flexibilities
- Confirming correct coding, modifiers, and documentation
- Training staff on payer-specific telehealth rules
- Tracking outcomes and utilization tied to virtual care
Being proactive reduces compliance risk and positions your practice to adapt quickly if rules change.
Bottom Line: Telehealth Is the Future — But Only If the Rules Stay
Telehealth has proven its value for patients, staff, and providers alike. It improves access, supports overworked teams, and helps practices manage care more efficiently.
The AMA’s call to make telehealth rules permanent is about protecting what already works. Stable policies mean fewer disruptions, clearer workflows, predictable revenue, and better patient outcomes.
For medical practices, staying informed and compliant is no longer optional — it’s essential to sustaining care delivery in a hybrid healthcare environment.
Get Clear on 2026 Telehealth Billing — Before It Impacts Your Revenue
Telehealth rules continue to shift, and even small billing or documentation mistakes can lead to denials, lost reimbursement, or compliance risk. To protect your practice, make sure you understand exactly which telehealth services are still billable, what modifiers and place-of-service codes apply, and how payer policies differ in 2026.
Get all the latest telehealth billing updates by watching our on-demand training, 2026 Telehealth Billing Rules, where experts break down what your practice needs to do now to bill confidently and stay compliant. Watch the training now.
References:
https://publichealthpost.org/health-equity/disparities-in-telehealth-access/
https://telehealth.hhs.gov/research-trends
https://blogs.psico-smart.com/blog-the-impact-of-telehealth-on-chronic-disease-management-163048
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2024-us-telehealth-satisfaction-study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39992746/
https://www.aha.org/fact-sheets/2025-02-07-fact-sheet-telehealth
https://blogs.psico-smart.com/blog-the-impact-of-telehealth-on-chronic-disease-management-163048