Temporary changes to Medicare policy during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a level of telehealth adoption previously unimagined and they demonstrated telehealth’s value beyond emergency use.
In little more than a year, telehealth has gone from a backwater of American health care to a booming business. Billion-dollar valuations, once a rarity, are now common as companies seize on a dramatic increase in demand to raise money and enter the public markets during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virtual healthcare appointments are expected to rise even as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, while spending on remote education and digital entertainment will dip, a study here released by the McKinsey Global Institute said.
Amazon will expand its virtual health pilot program, Amazon Care, to all of its U.S. employees starting this summer. The company will also offer the virtual health program as a service for other employers nationally. Amazon Care launched as a pilot program two years ago to provide convenient urgent care visits virtually for the company’s employees in Washington state.
As virtual health becomes more ubiquitous, private doctors and national and regional bodies are all calling for precise standards and procedures so to be inclusive of the elderly who aren’t tech savvy or communities without internet.
Purchaser Business Group on Health CEO & President Elizabeth Mitchell joins Yahoo Finance Live to break down how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate telemedicine and the transformation of virtual care.