THANKS, COVID:

With billions of people locked in their homes, doctor visits finally went virtual. And most everyone -- patients and doctors, especially -- found that in many circumstances, virtual visits are in fact a superior solution. Older patients don't have to contend with icy roads and sidewalks. Doctors can see far more patients, with greater flexibility. The examples of convenience and cost savings are endless, but doctor visits are just the tip of the digital health iceberg. In the near future, telehealth might not only save everyone billions of hours of time each year, but also transform health care into an information industry.

The chief obstacle to telehealth has been our insanely complicated web of health financing mechanisms, which often disincentivize or even block convenience, efficiency, and innovation. It had been obvious for many years that in many cases it was easier for doctors to video chat or email their patients. But how would they get paid? When the pandemic hit, we threw many of those payment policies out the window, and the US broadband internet was more than capable of delivering technologically. COVID-19 finally picked the lock and opened the door to an explosion of telehealth innovation.

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