American Hospital Association June 29, 2020
“I just can’t imagine going back because people recognize the value of this.”
That’s what Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said recently about the increased use of telehealth, signaling that doctoring from a distance — which has shown itself to be a lifesaving tool during the COVID-19 pandemic — could be here to stay.
Telehealth allows caregivers to contribute their knowledge and expertise without being physically present at a patient’s bedside. It’s not a new technology, but regulations have slowed its wider adoption by hospitals and health systems.
That’s changing fast, in no small part because telehealth use among Medicare beneficiaries is up by more than 11,000% over the past couple of months....