Telehealth & Covid-19
Digital Health Solutionization:
From Start to Sustainability
Most digital health services that fade away were never designed to last. They were approved, purchased and launched, and then kept alive by whoever cared most. Whether a new service is still running two years [...]
Most Telehealth Rollouts Have Two Phases.
They Need Five.
A rural hospital board decides it's time for telehealth. Someone loops in IT. IT writes a request for proposal, a vendor gets selected within a few months, and eighteen months later the service is [...]
In Digital Health, Turning On the Vendor Is the Last Step, Not the First
While the CMS RHTP program was announced over a year ago, it is not until these months in the fall of 2026 that we are beginning to see organizations receiving actual contracts to start their [...]
The Five Layers of Extraordinary Telehealth
Why most programs plateau — and what it takes to reach the top Rural health systems across the country are now sitting on a significant opportunity. The CMS Rural Health Transformation Program has made it possible to invest in [...]
The Telehealth Access Point Trap:
Why Building the Booth Is the Easy Part
Somewhere in America right now, there is a beautifully designed telehealth access point sitting largely unused in a library corner, a community center hallway, or a pharmacy waiting room. The lighting is warm. The room has been UV disinfected. The [...]
Virtual Care Sustainability Isn’t a Technology Problem
Virtual care is no longer a novelty. Direct-to-consumer platforms like Ro and BetterHelp, along with retail entrants like Amazon's One Medical, are proving that convenient, on-demand care has real consumer demand — and real competitive pull away from traditional health [...]
RHTP Funds Telehealth. Telehealth Funds
Your Strategy. Know the Difference.
Most leaders think of telehealth as a clinical tool — a way to reach a patient who can't easily get to the clinic. That's true. It's also just a small part of what telehealth can do for your organization. In [...]
Rural Health’s Leapfrog Transformation:
From In-Person- to Virtual-First
A few decades ago, much of the African continent skipped a stage of infrastructure that took the rest of the world a century to build. Many countries never built extensive landline networks — they moved straight to mobile. The [...]
Rural Health Implementation Science: TeleEmergency
In last week’s article, Kathy Letendre and I made the case that TeleEmergency is rural America's most urgent telehealth priority — and that the CMS Rural Health Transformation Program presents a great opportunity to fund the closing of that gap. [...]