Until recently state and federal barriers have served as hindrances to adoption of telemedicine, particularly a patchwork of licensure and reimbursement laws, especially across state lines. Yet, in response to the coronavirus outbreak the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and commercial insurers sweepingly approved the use of telemedicine, including access to remote care regardless of patient location, as well as relaxation of HIPAA and technology restrictions

While no one can predict exactly how much telemedicine will be used once the COVID pandemic is over, the American Medical Association predicts that telemedicine will be much more widely used than it was before the pandemic. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma has indicated that waivers permitting broader telehealth coverage will be extended after the coronavirus pandemic. “

Broadband has long been a sticking point in the adoption and expansion of connected health programs, particularly in rural and remote parts of the country. Healthcare providers, hospitals, clinics, and patients need reliable connectivity to ensure telemedicine access. In June 2020, the FCC’s Rural Healthcare Program allocated an additional $200 million to fund expanded rural healthcare broadband resources to improve the reach of telemedicine. The funding pushes the Rural Health Care Program to over $800 million in 2020, up 2x from 2018.
In February 2020, CMS issued sweeping revisions to regarding access, exchange, and use of electronic health information (EHI). The new rules require that patients have access to EHI at no cost and that health care providers implement open data sharing technologies. The new rules also require that healthcare providers conform to the advanced application programming interface (API) standards an aligned set of data standards. The changes are intended to increase competition and foster innovation that promote patient access and control over their health information.

Mandated interoperability, modernized HIPAA standards, and increased broadband access – combined with consumer expectations and an improving reimbursement landscape – all point to significant growth in telemedicine. Other forms of digital healthcare transformation that will be accelerated in this environment include remote patient monitoring (RPM), enhanced medication management, and care coordination.