From legislation that should be enacted at the federal level to providers helping patients use telehealth, there are several ways in which different stakeholders could improve the use of telehealth in an equitable and effective manner, according to a July 25 report from the Brookings Institute.
Here are their seven recommendations as to how telehealth could be improved for patients nationally:
- Both federal and state level legislatures should enshrine telehealth use created by pandemic-era waivers into law.
- Telehealth should be open to various modalities, from asynchronous to synchronous to ensure that a variety of people can use the services.
- Federal legislation should be created to ensure provider/user confidentiality and avoid privacy leaks.
- Healthcare providers should understand their own role in increasing access to telehealth by running digital literacy programs and assessing each patient's ability to use the technology effectively.
- State and local governments should prioritize access to broadband services for their populations.
- The priority of any use of artificial intelligence in telehealth should be fairness, inclusion and equity.
- Telehealth should be incorporated into value-based payment models.