Implementation of Telephone and Video Visits in Primary Care: Informing the Future of Care Delivery
摘要
This chapter discusses the emergence of telehealth prior to, during, and after the early years of the pandemic. The authors describe how telehealth implementation varied across primary care clinics and identify factors that influenced rapid telehealth implementation. Chapter authors examine how telehealth and hybrid care models (e.g., both telehealth and in-person options) are currently being used, and they discuss—with quotes and case examples from their ongoing research—some of the implications of hybrid care models for patients and clinical teams. They use these lessons to make recommendations for sustaining and optimizing telehealth in the future, and for considering what might be next, as the US health care system considers how best to optimize a hybrid model of care delivery. Recommendations include bridging the digital divide, upgrading systems to meet the needs of patients with limited English proficiency, establishing systems to triage visits and integrate rooming within virtual visits, integrating systems to identify patients in need of remote monitoring, and incorporating real-time monitoring into virtual visits. The authors conclude that telehealth now plays an important role in primary care, and they note the need to ensure equitable use of telehealth in the future.