TELEHEALTH – INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE’S OUTREACH CHAMPION Alternative During COVID – Now a Healthcare Extension

Telehealth and telemedicine have been imagined, reimagined, and explored in a variety of models since 1906 when the inventor of the electrocardiogram published a paper on the telecardiogram. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported significant implementation of telehealth in the U.S., and by 2012, telehealth visits among rural Medicare recipients, increased to 108,000 from just over 7,000 in 2004. In 2020, the telehealth trajectory in overall healthcare rose dramatically, when the COVID-related public health declaration that expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of people also opened telehealth access for Medicare recipients. This single action encouraged clinicians and health systems throughout the U.S. to quickly adopt telehealth options where possible as a universal healthcare delivery safety net. Academic medical centers and health systems dedicated to whole health and well-being have embraced and championed telehealth as a uniquely patient-centric introduction to integrative medicine approaches and interventions to an increasing patient population while helping patients manage their health across a broadening spectrum of needs. Challenges remain, as well as questions.

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