Response to: A Telehealth Explosion: Using Lessons From the Pandemic To Shape the Future of Telehealth Regulation

Abstract

In A Telehealth Explosion: Using Lessons from the Pandemic to Shape the Future of Telehealth Regulation, published in the Texas A&M Law Review, Professor Deborah Farringer tackles the critical issue of the efficacy and implementation of telehealth, using our experience(s) of telehealth during the COVID–19 pandemic as the guide. This is important, as Professor Farringer acknowledges, because while telehealth advocates pre-date the pandemic, barriers prevented the implementation of telehealth in a widespread manner. These barriers included a concern about fraud and a question as to whether telehealth visits could provide effective outcomes compared to in-person visits. Professor Farringer reflects on these barriers and addresses their validity, especially given what we learned through the COVID–19 pandemic. Professor Farringer then moves the discussion forward to propose that not only can our healthcare system utilize telehealth, but it can do so in a more meaningful way. This can be done by addressing the benefits and risks we learned through the waivers that allowed telehealth visits during the COVID–19 pandemic.