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Telehealth in the COVID-19 Era: A Balancing Act to Avoid Harm
J. Jeffery Reeves;
John W. Ayers;
Christopher A. Longhurst
ABSTRACT
The telehealth revolution has been heralded for its potential to improve health care access and improve the efficiency of health care delivery. However, virtual patient care can bring unintended consequences that eclipse the benefits including potentially limiting the patient-provider relationship, the quality of the examination, the efficiency of healthcare delivery, and the overall quality of care. Facing the most rapidly adopted medical trend in modern history, clinicians are beginning to grasp its possibilities, but we also need to understand its boundaries. As outcomes are studied and federal regulations reconsidered, it is important to be precise in the approach to the virtual patient encounter. We offer some simple guidelines to assist providers in determining the appropriateness of a telehealth visit, considering visit types, chief complaint or disease states, and patient characteristics.
Citation
Please cite as:
Reeves JJ, Ayers JW, Longhurst CA
Telehealth in the COVID-19 Era: A Balancing Act to Avoid Harm