As telehealth expands into healthcare organizations nationwide, attitudes and implementation remain a mystery in family physicians. To examine the largest primary care physician group, researchers conducted a national survey of family physicians to determine use and barriers of telehealth services in their practices. Findings were published in the May – June issue of Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

The Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) has released, "State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Policies," its fifth annual report analyzing all 50 states and the District of Columbia’s Medicaid provider manuals, state laws and telehealth regulations. 

Six U.S. Senators have introduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2017, a bipartisan bill that aims to extend telehealth services to Medicare patients to improve access and outcomes while reducing costs.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA), having released its 2017 Telemedicine Executive Leadership Survey, found that 83 percent of healthcare executives plan to invest in telehealth.

Expanding Medicare’s coverage of telehealth services has been a favorite cause of major medical associations. A new U.S. Senate bill is taking a different approach to achieving that goal: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).

A recent study from NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association found that the implementation of telehealth saves hospitals an average of $81,300 a year. 

Telehealth has integrated itself as a major part in healthcare and has caught the attention of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai will be visiting Cleveland clinic to learn more about how the implementation of telehealth is advancing healthcare to those in need.

Long wait times and crowded emergency departments (ED) reduce quality of care. In the ED at Duke University Hospital, a telehealth cart rolls through the aisles to treat patients quickly and effectively.