Perspective: What a Difference a Disaster Makes: The Telehealth Revolution in the Age of COVID-19 Pandemic
John Maese, Donna Seminara, Zeel Shah, Anita Szerszen
Abstract
Despite the existence of telemedicine since the late 1950s and early 1960s, it took a pandemic to bring this technology mainstream. The critical urgency of the pandemic drove an auspicious alignment of policy, economics, and technology to facilitate the widespread implementation of telehealth. It is imperative that this synchronicity be maintained in the post-COVID era in order to optimize our health care system to be ready for the next threat to the health of the United States.
Topics & Concepts
PandemicTelehealthTelemedicineMedicineCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Perspective (graphical)Mainstream2019-20 coronavirus outbreakHealth careSynchronicitySevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Public relationsMedical emergencyEconomic growthVirologyPolitical scienceOutbreakArtificial intelligenceInfectious disease (medical specialty)EconomicsEpistemologyPathologyLawComputer scienceDiseasePhilosophyTelemedicine and Telehealth ImplementationCOVID-19 and healthcare impactsPatient Satisfaction in Healthcare