The question healthcare policymakers, providers, and payers must now ask is: "Will the pendulum swing back to how things used to be, or has the pandemic opened the door to new ways of delivering care?"
Backed by SoftBank and promoted by Simone Biles, Cerebral has built the fastest-growing online mental health business. Former employees say the rapid expansion comes at the expense of patient care.
Telemedicine, teleworking, rapid tests, virtual school, and vaccine drive-throughs have become part of Americans' routines as they enter Year 3 of life amid COVID-19. But as innovators have raced to make living in a pandemic world safer, some people with disabilities have been left behind.
U.S. doctors are providing free telehealth services for Ukrainian soldiers, civilians, and refugees amid Russia's invasion through an app connected to the Starlink internet that Tesla set up in the embattled eastern European country.
Lawmakers are considering extending the more flexible telehealth policies put in place during the pandemic for five months after the end of the formal public health emergency, according to draft text obtained by STAT.
Experts say loosening the rules helped eliminate longstanding barriers to addiction care, like a lack of transportation or a shortage of clinicians who prescribe medically assisted treatment, especially in rural communities. But the changes are temporary, tied to the state of "emergency" associated with the pandemic — and proponents want them made permanent.