Establishing A Value-Based ‘New Normal’ For Telehealth

There is a pressing need to clarify the infrastructure demands (such as wireless broadband) required to support and sustain equitable care delivery with telehealth technologies. This must transpire in conjunction with establishing platforms that enable measurement of access, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and expenditure while preserving interoperability and continuity of care. Meeting these infrastructure demands will be fundamental to promoting value-based dissemination.

Understanding the value of telehealth—health outcomes achieved per dollars spent—is vital to inform decision making. Conflicting pre-pandemic evidence surrounding the impact of telehealth on cost and patient-centered outcomes makes navigating a value-based strategy challenging. Exhibit 2 presents a conceptual model for policy and research agendas to establish a value-based “new normal” for telehealth. The agendas are interdependent and the cyclical arrows highlight the iterative relationship required to support the design of a continuously learning and action-based delivery system. Advancing the comprising elements in tandem and developing enabling infrastructure will be essential to optimize individual and population health.