Staying Connected In The COVID-19 Pandemic: Telehealth At The Largest Safety-Net System In The United States.

Lau, Jen; Knudsen, Janine; Jackson, Hannah; Wallach, Andrew B; Bouton, Michael; Natsui, Shaw; Philippou, Christopher; Karim, Erfan; Silvestri, David M; Avalone, Lynsey; Zaurova, Milana; Schatz, Daniel; Sun, Vivian; Chokshi, Dave A

NYC Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H) is the largest safety net health care delivery system in the United States. Prior to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, NYC H+H served over one million patients, including the most vulnerable New Yorkers, and billed fewer than 500 telehealth visits monthly. Once the pandemic struck, we established a strategy to allow us to continue to serve existing patients and treat the surge of new patients. Starting in March 2020 we were able to transform the system using virtual care platforms through which we conducted almost 83,000 billable televisits in one month and more than 30,000 behavioral health encounters via telephone and video. Telehealth also enabled us to support patient-family communication, post-discharge follow-up, and palliative care for COVID-19 patients. Expanded Medicaid coverage and insurance reimbursement for telehealth played a pivotal role in this transformation. As we move to a new blend of virtual and in-person care, it is vital that the major regulatory and insurance changes undergirding our COVID-19 telehealth response be sustained to protect access for our most vulnerable patients. [Editor's Note: This Fast Track Ahead Of Print article is the accepted version of the manuscript. The final edited version will appear in an upcoming issue of Health Affairs.].