Impact of Telehealth on Health Economics

As part of an efficient, continuously improving care delivery system, telehealth can increase patient engagement by creating new or additional ways of communicating with patients' physicians. Telehealth has the potential to increase patient and primary care provider access to specialists, provide specialist support to rural providers, assist with on-going monitoring and support for patients with chronic conditions, and reduce health care expenses by maximizing the use of specialists without the need to duplicate coverage in multiple locations. Current and future physicians will need to develop competencies that will enable them to navigate this new telehealth landscape.