The Milbank Quarterly: How Emerging Telehealth Models Challenge Policymaking

The Milbank Quarterly: How Emerging Telehealth Models Challenge Policymaking

This study describes policy challenges across a range of alternative telehealth offerings in four groups, ranging from those that support the current system to those that compete with it. It also outlines key policy considerations, such as how to pay for telehealth, how much to pay for it, and how to ensure quality of the services. Current telehealth policy discussions are focused on synchronous video and audio telehealth visits delivered by traditional providers and have neglected the growing number of alternative telehealth offerings. These alternative telehealth offerings range from simply supporting traditional brick-and-mortar providers to telehealth-only companies that directly compete with them.