Experiences of Telehealth Reimbursement Policies in Federally Qualified Health Centers.

IMPORTANCE

The impact of Medicaid telehealth reimbursement policies on staffing and patient-centered care in the safety net are largely unknown but critical to successful and equitable access to telehealth.

OBJECTIVE

To identify and characterize federally qualified health center (FQHC) staff and leadership's perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of Medicaid telehealth reimbursement policies.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This qualitative study used semistructured interviews conducted from April 2022 to January 2024 with snowballed sampled participants consisting of FQHC leadership, clinicians, and administrative staff in 6 FQHCs representing the 5 boroughs in New York, New York.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Participants described telehealth experiences, including factors impending or contributing to staff turnover, patient satisfaction, and financial sustainability within FQHCs. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Of 56 interviews, 26 participants (46.4%) were part of the leadership team, 18 (32.1%) were clinical staff, 8 (14.3%) were program support staff, 7 (12.5%) were enabling services staff, 3 (5.4%) were site directors, and 3 (5.4%) were another staff category. Three overarching themes characterized staff and leadership understanding of the impact of Medicaid telehealth reimbursement policies on FQHCs: (1) Medicaid telehealth policy design was perceived to exacerbate a workforce shortage, particularly among mental health care practitioners; (2) patients ranged in preferences and ability to access telehealth while FQHCs struggled to attain resources for telehealth; and (3) FQHC leadership envisioned a productive hybrid model where telehealth complements on-site care. FQHC staff and leadership reported opportunities to improve compliance, no-shows, and workflows through telehealth, but improvements in funding policy, such as payment parity and more grants that can be used to address telehealth infrastructure (eg, Internet access, equipment, and literacy), are urgently needed.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this qualitative study, staff at FQHCs perceived the current telehealth Medicaid reimbursement policies in New York State as a factor that exacerbated inequities to accessing care, particularly for mental health needs. These findings indicate that although telehealth brings new opportunities to advance patient-centered care, there are serious challenges on the path toward equitable care because telehealth is not yet integrated into payment in a sustainable way.