The Evidence Base for Telehealth: Reassurance in the Face of Rapid Expansion During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In a very short time, healthcare in the United States and in many other countries has been transformed out of necessity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Herculean efforts have supported transformations ranging from converting hospital spaces and non-healthcare facilities into intensive care units (ICUs) to rolling out new clinical guidelines and policies. One of the most evident, and perhaps impactful, changes has been the explosion of telehealth. For example, at Oregon Health & Science University, the number of digital health visits ballooned from 1,100 in February to nearly 13,000 in March, and all 1,200 ambulatory faculty were able to conduct virtual visits by April 3, 2020. This response has been fueled by necessity and rapid legislative and regulatory changes to payment and privacy requirements, particularly the temporary waivers and new rules by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that have broadened access and facilitated payment for a wider range of telehealth services.

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