Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun 16;7(1):lsaa043.
doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsaa043. eCollection 2020 Jan-Jun.

Increasing access to care: telehealth during COVID-19

David A Hoffman  1
Affiliations

Increasing access to care: telehealth during COVID-19

David A Hoffman. J Law Biosci. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency has amplified both the potential value and the challenges with healthcare providers deploying telehealth solutions. As people across the country find ways to stay at home, telehealth preserves an opportunity to obtain necessary healthcare services. Further, telehealth can help individuals avoid COVID-19 infection, free up hospital beds and other resources for those patients most in need, and prevent infected individuals from spreading that infection. Federal and state regulators have recognized this potential of telehealth and have quickly changed a variety of laws and regulations to enable healthcare providers to deploy solutions quickly. These changes can provide lasting benefits for the use of telehealth well after the current crisis. However, to best realize telehealth's benefits, further legal and regulatory actions are necessary. Specifically, lawmakers and regulators should focus on six areas: reimbursement, privacy/cybersecurity, liability, licensure, technology access, and artificial intelligence.

Keywords: COVID; artificial intelligence; cybersecurity; privacy; telehealth; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer