title: Critical steps to scaling telehealth for national reform.
abstract: Telehealth services show great promise to expand access to care while improving patient safety and reducing costs of care for all Americans. The expansion of telehealth has been slowed by a host of factors, including limited reimbursement, legal and regulatory barriers, limited provider capacity, and a lack of general public knowledge and/or acceptance of telehealth technologies and services. To hasten the expansion of telehealth requires a multifaceted and coordinated approach that will include healthcare professionals, regulators, payers, lawmakers, and patients. This paper will outline the steps necessary to scale telehealth services to a level that will help to address issues such as access to care, patient safety, quality, provider shortages, licensure and preparedness, all important elements of healthcare reform.
authors.affiliation: Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18017, USA. joseph.tracy@lvh.com
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tracy
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rheuban
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: DeVany
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Whitten
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D008007:Licensure, Medical; D011640:Public Policy; D013685:Telecommunications; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States