Patients and doctors who embraced telehealth during the pandemic fear it will become harder to access

Across the country during the pandemic, the same pattern played out as federal and state regulators issued scores of waivers to telehealth access and coverage rules, making it easier for hospitals, health centers and clinics to offer a wider range of remote services and be reimbursed for delivering them. Yet a question that remains to be answered is how many rules will tighten once the public health emergency is over. There are signs of support for telehealth; Congress is considering legislation that would make some changes permanent. The bipartisan infrastructure bill includes $65 billion for broadband, which should give patients in rural areas access to Internet connections fast enough for video visits as well as uploading data from wearable medical devices. And in August 2021, the Biden administration announced a $19 million investment in telehealth in the form of awards aimed at stimulating innovation and expanding access to services in underserved areas. Physicians' experiences with everything from unreliable Internet access to state-based licensing arrangements are central to today’s telehealth debates in Washington. But day-to-day, the focus is less on policy than on integrating the tools of technology with the traditions of good care — a challenge that all practitioners face as they adapt to telehealth.