Kaiser Permanente’s telehealth connectivity empowers our members to choose where, when, and how they get care.
Our fully integrated telehealth capabilities enhance the patient experience, improve outcomes, and expand access to routine and life-saving care. These technologies, including video, phone, and email, support interactions between patients and their physicians and other health professionals; remote patient monitoring; remote evaluation of prerecorded video or images; and virtual consultations between practitioners. Telehealth tools are proving critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 40% of our ambulatory care visits are now conducted by video or phone call, with an average of approximately 30,000 video visits completed per weekday.
Despite strong evidence that telehealth can be an essential component of care delivery, there are policy and payment barriers to widespread use. Policymakers can save patients’ time and increase affordability by championing policies that support and expand its use.
Kaiser Permanente supports the following principles:
1 Kaiser Permanente, 2021
2 Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, 2021
3 Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, 2021