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The Telehealth Challenge During COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response

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Healthcare Information Management Systems

Part of the book series: Health Informatics ((HI))

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Abstract

The pandemic has presented itself unique challenges for healthcare information technology administrators. With time not on their side, many adjustments had to be made in a moment’s notice. Previously written disaster manuals and contingency plans were adequate, but not fully functional for something as unprecedented as the pandemic. Face to face physician office visits were replaced by telehealth thus creating a cadre of challenges from information technology security to HIPAA to staff training to infrastructure. Using a step-by-step telehealth development process rooted in emergency preparedness, rapid pivoting to telehealth resulted in overall positive outcomes and lessons learned for mainstream use of telehealth in the future.

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Summary

This twenty-first century pandemic not only exposed general weaknesses within the health sector system [22], but provided impetus for Health IT to become a major innovator and collaborator within every health system. HIT systems met the core challenge to pivot to telehealth during COVID-19. Today, we know that COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of technology-enabled strategies. We should expect that virtual care visits should transition from an alternative care delivery option to an integrated component of all health care. More than lessons learned from a health emergency and crisis, HIT departments technology enabled operations now constitute the basis for normal care going forward. Experts suggest that digital health will reshape the health care sector, especially patient engagement, care delivery and payment models [27].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seton Hall University, Nutley, NJ, USA

    Anne M. Hewitt

  2. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Joan M. Kiel

Authors
  1. Anne M. Hewitt
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  2. Joan M. Kiel
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Correspondence to Joan M. Kiel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Joan M. Kiel

  2. The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    George R. Kim

  3. The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

    Marion J. Ball

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Hewitt, A.M., Kiel, J.M. (2022). The Telehealth Challenge During COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response. In: Kiel, J.M., Kim, G.R., Ball, M.J. (eds) Healthcare Information Management Systems. Health Informatics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07912-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07912-2_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-07911-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-07912-2

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