Fifty-one percent of clinicians said telehealth negatively affects their ability to demonstrate empathy with patients, according to a report released March 15 by analytics firm Elsevier Health.

Verizon is expanding the BlueJeans Telehealth platform it launched in 2021. 

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is transitioning to its new 988 call number in July, but there are concerns that funding might not meet the expected increased demand, according to a March 13 article from The New York Times. 

Congress passed the omnibus spending bill that expanded coverage of telehealth services, but experts fear that the bill failed to detail which telehealth services would be covered by insurers, FastCompany reported March 12.

Integrating with Cerner's EHR to collect patient information from virtual visits, Microsoft's new features in Teams aim to provide a simpler and convenient experience for patients and providers for telehealth workflows.

Researchers at Utah State University are using Zoom therapy sessions to study the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for adolescents suffering from health anxiety. 

The World Health Organization has reccomended the use of telemedicine for abortion pill prescriptions.

Telepsychiatry app Cerebral has grown explosively during the pandemic, but 27 former employees said the company could be fueling a new addiction crisis, according to a March 11 Bloomberg report.

As the healthcare industry strives to provide higher quality care at a lower cost, early intervention to direct patients to the most appropriate level of care settings is essential. 

Congress is set to grant a five-month extension to telehealth flexibilities, created during the pandemic, as part of the 2022 omnibus spending bill made public March 9.

Seventy-two organizations submitted a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration asking to remove the requirement that patients be evaluated in-person before being prescribed controlled substances via telemedicine.

Baptist Hospital of Miami and South Miami, Fla.-based Larkin Health System entered into an agreement to provide telehealth services to fire departments to eliminate an influx of patients in emergency rooms, Miami Today reported March 1.

Nearly 1 in 3 telehealth visits led to an in-person visit, which could lead to an increase in overall healthcare visits, according to results of a survey conducted on JLL that were released on March 2.

Samsung and two telehealth providers developed a national initiative that will provide grants, technology and physician expertise to rural hospitals in need of telehealth access.

As part of its efforts to address the national mental health crisis, the White House endorsed expanded telehealth coverage in a March 1 briefing. Here are three things to know about the administration's plans to increase telehealth access:

Teladoc Health partnered with Amazon Alexa to launch voice-activated, virtual medical care on supported Echo devices.

Non-English speaking patients struggle to access telemedicine as video visit services don't always offer proper translations or third-party interpreters, The Verge reported Feb. 24.

Amwell reported $252.8 million in revenue during 2021, up 3 percent from $245.3 million in 2020.

Many states are relaxing COVID-19 restrictions and dropping public health emergency designations, moves that affect payers' decisions on how to reimburse for telehealth services. Amid these changing policies, many hospitals feel like their telehealth programs are in a state of limbo.

Although the use of telehealth skyrocketed during the pandemic, it has more recently declined as the option to go back to in-person appointments is back in the cards. A February 2022 report from healthcare analytics company Trilliant Health suggests telehealth may just be a placeholder for in-person visits.