While the COVID-19 pandemic is most often associated with bad news, there have been some unexpected positives that have arisen during the last year. One of these bright spots has been how federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, have embraced telehealth. In this article, originally published on Future Healthcare Today, learn how innovation makes the long-term adoption of telehealth more likely.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has been brought squarely to the forefront of care in both the public and private sector. After nearly a year of experience with telehealth and high adoption rates, agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are looking to make telehealth services permanent and expand the use of telehealth to support mental health services, including both group and individual therapy.

In order for telehealth services to truly meet constituent needs, there is still much to do in terms of expanding rural bandwidth capabilities, COVID reimbursement allowances for telehealth needing to be made permanent, as well as ensuring that all HIPAA challenges are being met.

These were some of the key themes from the first podcast in the “Public Health Trends in 2021 & Beyond: What a Difference a Pandemic Makes” series, which featured insights from Lea Sims, Sr. Manager, Healthcare, Insurance, and Lifesciences at Verizon; and Dr. Jerry Hauer, Senior Advisor at Teneo. Both executives discussed how innovation will be critical for overcoming these challenges – ultimately driving telehealth adoption even further this year.

Listen to the full podcast below. Click here to listen to part two of the “Public Health Trends in 2021 & Beyond: What a Difference a Pandemic Makes” series.