Federal Audits of Telehealth to Shape Its Post-Pandemic Future

Federal watchdogs are investigating whether the expansion of telehealth services during the pandemic opened the door to fraud and abuse, a move that policy experts say could help determine the future of the practice.

U.S. health-care providers embraced telemedicine over the past year as a way of providing continuing care to patients who would otherwise have lost access because of Covid-19 restrictions or their own fear of visiting the doctor’s office. Federal regulators removed barriers to telehealth in Medicare and Medicaid, and many providers want those changes to be made permanent.

But the Justice Department and the Office of Inspector ...