Telehealth Helps Transform Health Care Through Widespread Innovation
Health care, like many industries, has seen remarkable developments through the integration and ongoing development of technology. Telehealth is no exception. With the rapid expansion of telehealth in response to the pandemic, due in large part to the lifting of restrictions, has come new innovations and forms of care for patients worldwide. And what began as a creative solution to meet care needs during the pandemic is now a catalyst for innovation that has revolutionized health care. With current virtual care flexibilities set to expire at the end of the year, patients and providers need long-term solutions that only lawmakers can provide to ensure that innovation and investment in virtual care remains.
Innovations in long-distance communication are among our most significant technological advancements. Telehealth leverages messaging, videoconferencing, and other electronic systems to facilitate remote patient monitoring by providers. In collaboration with the Community Preventive Services Task Force, the CDC recommends telehealth as an effective approach to managing chronic diseases and conditions. Additionally, remote monitoring and other telehealth innovations have helped lower health care costs while maintaining the same quality of care as traditional hospital visits and have even saved the lives of at-risk veterans.
Telehealth has revolutionized the standard of care across multiple health conditions and practices. Take heart disease for example, the leading cause of death in the U.S. Through telehealth innovations, monitoring capabilities have vastly improved for physicians, who can analyze data and provide treatment suggestions in real-time. Telehealth innovation has also changed the game for stroke intervention and care, with some facilities reporting that with telehealth stroke intervention, hospital transfers have reduced from 50 percent to 15 percent. Through telehealth, paramedics can even alert stroke neurologists and emergency medicine physicians of any stroke risks or flags before the patient even enters the hospital. We are only scratching the surface of what innovations are possible by fully embracing telehealth.
The way to consider healthcare innovation “is not as the result of a single visionary but as the product of thousands of leaders, clinicians, technologists and support staff slowly and painstakingly iterating, building and, yes, sometimes disrupting what has come before,” shared Jason Hallock, Chief Clinical Innovation Officer at Access TeleCare, with Forbes.
The key to unlocking the thousands of health care leaders who can innovate through telehealth lies with our congressional leaders. Pandemic-era legislation opened the door for far greater telehealth flexibility and Medicare coverage. These flexibilities were extended in 2022 but are set to expire this year. The door to telehealth— and consequently to health care— is closing for millions of patients nationwide. Without the certainty of protections for telehealth, healthcare providers can’t invest in strengthening telehealth service offerings, and leaders in innovation won’t have the resources to explore the technological advancements that are possible.
Policymakers must recognize the immense innovative potential that can be fostered by protecting vital telehealth flexibilities that are set to expire at the end of this year. Failure to protect these services would deny our future and restrict technological advancements that can lead to significant improvements in health care. In just a few years with current Medicare flexibilities, telehealth has enhanced mental health treatment access, improved patient retention, provided more inclusive care options for underserved communities, and more.
We encourage Congress to protect current telehealth flexibilities for as long as possible and consider the innovation that health care leaders and other trailblazers nationwide can cultivate as well as preserving patient access to care.
Learn more about how Congress can act to protect telehealth access HERE.
ABOUT TELEHEALTH ACCESS FOR AMERICA
Telehealth Access for America (TAFA) is a public education campaign supported by leaders in health care committed to better care, expanded patient choice, and protecting access to critical telehealth services. Learn more and take action today at www.telehealthaccessforamerica.org.