Telehealth utilization decreased across all regions in April, decreasing nationally by 5.4 percent month over month, according to a July 6 news release from Fair Health.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote dismissed a lawsuit against Teladoc that alleges that the virtual healthcare company misled investors regarding its business, operations and future prospects. 

Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine shut down one of its urgent care centers, Penn Urgent Care South Philadelphia, on June 30 as more patients are turning to telehealth for care, 10 Philadelphia reported July 6. 

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health is using telehealth to increase access to contraceptives after Utah pharmacists were allowed to prescribe and dispense hormonal contraceptives directly to adult women in the state, TownLift reported July 6.

A study from EHR vendor Epic Systems found that providers who conduct telehealth visits for patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety are no more or less likely to prescribe medication during visits than physicians who meet with patients in person. 

Telehealth startup TytoCare is laying off 20 employees, or 10 percent of its 200-person workforce, CTech reported July 6.

Northwell Health's Center for Global Health partnered with the Burn Center at Staten Island (N.Y.) University Hospital to implement a telehealth program that allows burn victims to remotely access burn specialists, treatment plans and guidance, according to a July 1 report from silive.com.

In CHIME’s Digital Health Most Wired 2022 Patient Engagement Trend Report, ORBIE award winning CIO, Michael Saad said, “The pandemic surely accelerated this move to more targeted digital offerings, but the healthcare industry is absolutely headed to personalized care.”

Four Georgia hospitals are part of a new rural telehealth expansion project with the Georgia Health Information Network.

Bryan-based Texas A&M Health partnered with Let's Talk Interactive as its new telehealth partner for behavioral health.

The bipartisan Telehealth Expansion Act, making specific COVID-19-era telehealth provisions permanent, would cost $5 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, The Hill reported June 27.

Eight-eight percent of U.S. physicians said telemedicine has been a vital tool in helping patients access healthcare, particularly in patient populations that have historically faced barriers to care, according to a June 29 report from digital healthcare platform Doximity. 

Cleveland Clinic's new $80 million hospital in Mentor, Ohio, will have telehealth technology installed in inpatient and outpatient rooms, which will allow patients to consult remotely with physicians from different locations, Ideastream Public Media reported June 28. 

The Justice Department has charged 11 individuals in connection with telehealth fraud schemes that resulted in more than $2 billion in false claims.

Hospitals and health systems are increasingly turning to virtual nursing as a way to combat the nursing workforce shortage. Here are three hospitals and health systems who have expanded their virtual nursing throughout their organizations and across states:

Telehealth has helped transform care for Boston Children's Hospital patients who no longer have to endure the stress of traveling for every appointment. Just ask 5-year-old Weston Mahady.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center checks in on high-risk chronic disease patients with telehealth calls from a registered nurse to try to keep them out of the hospital.

As big health systems have turned to virtual nursing to help with staffing shortages and reduce administrative tasks for nurses, Kaiser Permanente has taken a slightly different approach. The Oakland, Calif.-based health system has its nurses communicate with patients via telehealth.

The pandemic influenced the greatest number of acquisitions, implementations and usage of digital health technologies, but some hospital and health system leaders said they are only moderately satisfied with their telehealth investments, a June 13 report from Panda Health found. 

Children's Hospital Los Angeles is partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District to offer virtual care to CHLA patients 12 or older attending one of the 20 participating Los Angeles schools.