By JoAnn Volk and Sabrina Corlette

Telemedicine has long been understood as a critical tool for reaching patients in underserved communities, including rural areas, and to improve access to services such as primary care and behavioral health. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed and urgent interest in using telehealth to enable remote access to care across service areas and provider types. In response to the pandemic, federal and state policymakers are encouraging broader use of telehealth services, in order to decrease the need for in-person visits. A post summarizing federal legislation and guidance and actions state departments of insurance can take to encourage greater access to telehealth services is available in an article for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health & Value Strategies project. You can find the full article here.