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The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred a dramatic increase in virtual health care in the United States. The rise has been driven by the need for social distancing and enabled by a wide range of policy flexibilities implemented by federal and state legislators, regulators, and payers. However, many of these allowances are temporary. As the pandemic ebbs, more»

The use of telehealth services by those who receive benefits under the Medicaid and Child Health Plus programs increased greatly as restrictions on gatherings were put in place more than a year ago, a report released Thursday by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found. The report underscores the reliance of health care providers and patients put in telehealth more»

The rise in telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic has showcased two contrasting narratives about access to virtual care. Even as telehealth made it easier for some patients to get the care they need, especially those who struggle to reach in-person services, it also exacerbated the digital divide for others. "COVID accelerated our commitment," said more»

That’s not to say the industry wasn’t already going through a digital transformation. Electronic health records (EHR) had already been increasingly supplanting paper-based systems, and telehealth solutions were gradually gaining traction as an additional way to offer convenience, portability and easy access by patients. But the pandemic more»

A bipartisan group of senators this week introduced the Telemental Healthcare Access Act of 2021, geared toward reducing hurdles to providing virtual behavioral health services. The bill, introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Ben Cardin, D-Md., and John Thune, R-S.D., would remove the statutory requirement that Medicare more»

Structural and nontechnical barriers to innovation are a big reasons why technical innovation is so challenging. The need to integrate telemedicine quickly and an opportunity for a better patient care model caused a digital transformation road map to accelerate. The COVID-19 crisis put laser focus on how clear it is that data and advanced analytics can be more»

The National Academy of Medicine recently released a report urging everyone to have a primary care physician. The report went on to recommend that telehealth could have a role to play in this expansion of primary care. Dr. Josh Emdur is chief medical officer at SteadyMD, a virtual primary care provider that also powers telehealth for digital health more»

A wide-ranging study published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare this past month found that telehealth can be an effective modality of care for patients over 60, particularly when deployed in the confines of their existing primary care provider. When researchers, including a team from the West Health Institute, which focuses on addressing the more»