LAUSR

The US Department of Health and Human Services defines telehealth as use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to provide care when the patient and provider are not in the same place at the same time. This includes synchronous visits (herein referred to as “telehealth visits”), but also asynchronous interventions, such as messaging via portals and remote patient monitoring. Synchronous visits can be delivered by an established local/regional provider network (via homeor remote clinic–based visits) or a direct-to-consumer model. Although telehealth’s potential to transform health care delivery in the United States was well recognized before the COVID-19 pandemic, reimbursement models limited its use. During the pandemic, telehealth was rapidly deployed across most medical disciplines and embraced by administrators, clinicians, and payers, recognizing the benefits of improved access and reduced cost.1 However, the impetus for telehealth adoption highlighted the digital divide and underscored the need to further investigate the spectrum of options and applications of telehealth along with their benefits and limitations.2