Role of telehealth in an evolving public health environment

For nearly 50 years, telehealth programs have served as innovative tools for the delivery of care, linking patients and providers separated by geographic and socioeconomic barriers, all the while mitigating specialty workforce shortages. Through an explosion of advanced technologies and with significant federal investments in telehealth programs and broadband infrastructure, millions of Americans, and likewise patients around the world, now benefit from care provided through telehealth. A recent Institute of Medicine workshop sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) examined the role of telehealth in an evolving health care environment. Over a two day period, presenters discussed the evolution of telehealth since 1996, the evidence base for telehealth, and focused on how technological developments have changed the delivery of health care in both rural and urban environments. During this session, participants will be provided with an overview of the key themes from this workshop. They will also be exposed to how rapid advances in telehealth technology and its adoption are making its applicability more salient to not only individual patient care, but to population and community health. The adoption of telehealth technologies into mainstream public health practice has the potential for significantly advancing the effective delivery of the “Ten Essential Public Health Services”.