Telehealth After COVID-19

Clarifying Policy Goals for a Way Forward

Lori Uscher-Pines, Monique Martineau

Expert InsightsPublished Jan 22, 2021

Although clinicians have experimented with telehealth for years, it did not become mainstream until the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic curtailed in-person health care services. The growth of telehealth services—spurred by temporary changes that are intended to help prioritize and maintain both access to care and adherence to social distancing guidelines—has policymakers, payers, and advocates rethinking the role that they would like telehealth to play in a post-pandemic health care system. The authors of this Perspective present considerations for how telehealth could benefit (or detract) from several policy goals. They also offer recommendations for how policymakers might use the tools at their disposal to achieve their post-pandemic goals.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Uscher-Pines, Lori and Monique Martineau, Telehealth After COVID-19: Clarifying Policy Goals for a Way Forward. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA1089-1.html.
BibTeX RIS

Funding for this Perspective was provided by gifts from RAND supporters and income from the operation of RAND Health Care. This research was carried out within the Access and Delivery Program in RAND Health Care.

This publication is part of the RAND expert insights series. The expert insights series presents perspectives on timely policy issues.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.