Creating a Coordinated Federal Telehealth Response to COVID-19

COVID Alliance March 15th Report — Part 1

With an unprecedented rise in testing for illness, we are at risk of overwhelming our health care system — as we are seeing in other countries. We need to ensure that hospitals are not overwhelmed by patients who can be treated elsewhere, and that medical professionals are not exposed more than is necessary. Fortunately, our innovative private sector has the infrastructure available to address this problem. However, these resources can only be put to effective use with government direction.

On March 13, the president’s announcement allowed the different agencies to take advantage of telehealth technology to change the way we manage the pandemic. These changes permit the use of telehealth but do not determine the way it will be deployed and the specific areas in which it can deliver value. Telehealth technologies could lower the risk of exposure for both medical providers and the general public, and enable clinical services from various areas around the country to reach into areas that are overwhelmed.

To take advantage of President Trump’s announcement yesterday on telehealth:

• The Administration should establish a National COVID-19 Center (NCC), charged with making telehealth services available to everyone.
• Telehealth companies, working with cloud computing companies and under the direction of the government, will spin-up the digital services needed to allow mass enrollment of clinicians so that health care professionals can reach patients in all parts of the country.
• As states declare their own emergencies, this platform will offer enabling infrastructure and facilitate cross-state cooperation and pooling of care management and delivery.

This system should be leveraged to launch a nationwide effort to minimize the spread of the outbreak among high-risk patients and communities by ensuring that they are isolated, cared for, and provided with all their basic needs. Otherwise, we are very likely to soon see in the U.S. the health care delivery crisis that exists today in Italy.

The private sector has already built the infrastructure needed to enlist telehealth technology as a direct intervention on the spread and treatment of COVID-19. A nationwide system, directed by a government-appointed executive, could in our assessment be rolled out in one week. This could then be applied to reduce the exposure of Americans to the virus as well as to reduce the risk of health care system crises by improving the allocation and availability of medical services across the country.