The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Telemedicine has been under-utilized and not well studied until the COVID-19 pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, in-person care quickly transitioned to remote consultation, facilitated by legislation that waived regulations and increased payment parity. A comprehensive look at our collective experience with telemedicine as published in literature suggests it has many advantages for patients and healthcare providers, it can often result in outcomes similar to in-person care, and it may have cost-saving implications. We must better define what conditions are best suited to telemedicine and how to dispense that care remotely, what communication techniques facilitate good telemedicine rapport, how to help patients more equitably access telemedicine, and how to best educate the future healthcare workforce. (100 words)
Source: Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice - Category: Primary Care Authors: Source Type: research