Study Finds Home Healthcare Agencies Discontinuing Telehealth Post-Pandemic

“This study is the first to provide a comprehensive national picture of telehealth’s trajectory in home healthcare,” says corresponding author Dana B. Mukamel, Distinguished Professor of Medicine. UC Irvine

• 19% of home healthcare agencies that adopted telehealth during the pandemic discontinued it by 2024.
• Reasons cited include a lack of Medicare reimbursement and concerns about the services’ suitability for older, less tech-savvy patients.

Irvine, Calif., May 28, 2025 — Many home healthcare agencies adopted telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the absence of federal reimbursements for these services has led to an increasing number of providers discontinuing these options, a national survey conducted by the University of California, Irvine, and other institutions reveals. Results are published in Health Services Research.

The National Institute on Aging-funded study offers valuable insights into the role of telehealth in home healthcare, a rapidly expanding sector. As the population ages and seeks alternatives to nursing homes, this field is expected to grow by 10% annually.

The survey’s findings spotlight the urgent need for policy considerations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has not reimbursed home healthcare agencies for telehealth services, even during the pandemic.

Conducted from October 2023 to November 2024, the study queried 791 home healthcare agencies, with a response rate of 37%. It focused on businesses that served a significant portion of dementia patients, averaging 33% of their clientele. The results revealed that only 23% of home healthcare agencies had adopted telehealth by 2019. However, that number surged to 65% by 2021, primarily driven by the implementation of virtual visits to mitigate disease transmission and address staffing and equipment shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, 19% of adopting agencies had discontinued telehealth by 2024. The reasons cited for this included a lack of Medicare reimbursement and concerns about the suitability of telehealth for the home healthcare of older, less tech-savvy patients.

“This study is the first to provide a comprehensive national picture of telehealth’s trajectory in home healthcare,” said corresponding author Dana B. Mukamel, PhD, Distinguished Professor of in the Department of Medicine. “Our findings suggest that without [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] reimbursement, many agencies may abandon telehealth, potentially missing opportunities to improve care and manage costs as home health demand skyrockets.”

Read the full press release in UC Irvine News.