What is the Medicare Telemedicine Snapshot?

Our Medicare Telemedicine Data Snapshot (PDF) is about people with Medicare who utilized telemedicine services between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. The data for the Snapshot comes from Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) claims data, Medicare Advantage (MA) encounter data, and Medicare enrollment information.

Telemedicine is the exchange of medical information from one site to another through electronic communication to improve a patient’s health.  Prior to March 2020, Medicare paid for these services under limited circumstances, with telemedicine services restricted to rural or health professional shortage areas, established patients, and certain types of providers. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, telemedicine services have been expanded to increase access to care including: lifting of geographic area restrictions with services allowed to be delivered from patients’ home; allowing for both new and established patients; expanding eligible services and the types of providers; and allowing for a select set of audio-only telehealth services. These expansions lead to large increases in telemedicine use and the snapshot illustrates how this increase varied across geographic and demographic groups. For additional details on Medicare telemedicine expansions, please visit https://telehealth.hhs.gov.

Where can I learn more about the data?

Methodology (PDF)

This methodology document (PDF) gives more details about the metrics included in the Medicare Telemedicine Snapshot and data file.

Data (ZIP - XLSX)

The information contained in this zip file (ZIP) includes the data used to produce the Medicare Telemedicine Snapshot. The data file also includes more detailed information than what is presented in the snapshot, allowing users to perform their own analyses with the data. A Data Dictionary is included in the zip file as well.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) (PDF)

Here are FAQs (PDF) about the Medicare Telemedicine Snapshot and data file.

Where can I find related telemedicine data? 

• https://telehealth.hhs.gov
• https://www.cms.gov/Telehealth
• https://www.medicaid.gov/Telemedicine