Some are asking if state of emergency provisions that loosened or suspended pre-COVID-19 regulations will remain. One example is regulations that govern the scope of practice and supervision of advanced practice providers.

The sudden and explosive growth of telehealth during COVID-19 demanded sorting out all kinds of logistics, reimbursement, and scheduling processes in short order. The frantic time frames to set it up did not exactly allow for careful ethical reflection.

For patient access, the telehealth boom carries some broad implications. As more patients become familiar with using telehealth, they are demonstrating a desire for additional digital interactions with providers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth is surging in popularity. But due to nationwide demand, there have been bandwidth and technological instability issues for patient access departments trying to adjust.

Soon there also can be a risk for hospitals that don’t use 3D printing, says Lisa Baird, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Reed Smith in Los Angeles. As the technology becomes more widespread, it could become the standard of care in some circumstances to create your own model or tool, she notes.