Table 3.

The health insurance payment standards for telehealth services.

Region	Reimbursement quotas or ratios	Specific conditions
China	Reimbursement expenses per visit are claimed based on the hospital level. Beijing: follow-up services after reimbursement, ¥19 (approximately US $2.6) for primary hospital, ¥28 (approximately US $3.9) for secondary hospital, and ¥40 (approximately US $5.5) for tertiary hospital. Jiangxi: primary and tertiary hospitals can be reimbursed ¥13 (approximately US $1.8) and ¥9 (approximately US $1.2), respectively, for the follow-up services. According to the basic health insurance category A and category B list. Zhejiang: follow-up visits are in accordance with category A list. Henan: in accordance with category B list. Reimbursement is based on a certain percentage of the services price. Fujian: the reimbursement of consultations is set at 30% of the services price. Guizhou: the reimbursement of consultations is set at between 70% and 85% of services price for patients in relatively impoverished counties.	Reimbursement of specific services: Sichuan: reimbursement for remote ECGa and pacemaker monitoring is limited to patients with arrhythmia. Payment limits: Shaanxi and Guizhou: set annual payment limits. Fujian: a maximum of no more than ¥90 (approximately US $12.4) per visit. Visit duration limits: Shandong: reimbursement for remote monitoring service (excluding fetal heart monitoring) is limited to 24 hours per visit.
United States	The payment standards are listed in the physician fee schedule and are updated on an annual basis	Payment recipients: Medicare: aged 65 years and older, all patients with end-stage renal disease, and some individuals with disabilities. Medicaid: children, pregnant women, and the impoverished. Service locations: the originating site: within a Health Professional Shortage Area or a county outside of a metropolitan statistical area. In 2019, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services removed the geographic requirement for originating sites for patients with substance use disorder or co-occurring mental health.
Australia	Bulk-billing: service providers have the option to directly bill Medicare for their services without charging additional fees to patients.	Service locations: at least 15 km away from medical institutions
France	Under normal circumstances, the national health insurance covers 70% of the cost of telehealth services. Special populations (eg, pregnant women, long-term care patients, and covered by supplemental health insurance payment support plans) receive full coverage. During crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, the national health insurance covers 100% of the cost of telehealth services.	Patients who had in-person consultations within the past year services. Remote consultation equipment. Computer, tablet, or smartphone equipped with a webcam and connected to the internet, transmitting video data through a secure video platform. During the COVID-19 pandemic, allowance for the use of telephone for suspected patients with COVID-19, pregnant women, residents in “white zones” (areas without mobile phone or internet coverage), patients with chronic disease, and individuals aged older than 70 years.

^aECG: electrocardiogram.