The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s (PRAC) Health Care Subgroup published a report that offers insights about the expansion—and the emerging risks—of telehealth in selected programs across six agencies during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The programs included the Veterans Health Administration, Medicare, TRICARE, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, and Department of Justice prisoner healthcare services. The expansion of telehealth services clearly helped millions of individuals access health care during the crisis, but also introduced several integrity risks associated with billing, including high-volume billing, duplicate claims, and inappropriate charges for the most expensive telehealth services. The study found that program integrity can be strengthened by implementing ongoing monitoring of telehealth services, developing controls to prevent inappropriate payments, educating providers and individuals about telehealth, collecting additional data to support oversight, and collecting and reviewing data about the impact of telehealth on quality of care. PRAC’s Health Care Subgroup consists of the inspectors general from the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Justice, Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, as well as the Office of Personnel Management.
