Regulatory Burdens: How to Let Consumer Demand Drive Innovation of Healthcare Delivery (NASDAQ)

The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed healthcare in a multitude of ways, including the enormous uptick in virtual care and remote patient monitoring for chronic illnesses. Due to quarantining and stay-at-home orders, various forms of telehealth have been widely and successfully adopted. This is in part due to relaxed regulatory relaxations that allow providers to bill telehealth as if it were an in-person appointment, yet many of these changes will lapse once the pandemic ends. While patients have adapted to remote healthcare delivery, regulations may not keep up with the changing consumer preferences and technology. Remote virtual care is a viable and valuable tool for many illnesses that require continuous care, but regulatory statutes could limit the effectiveness of treatment. emocha’s CEO Sebastian Seiguer explains, “Regulators must step aside and let consumer demand drive innovation of healthcare delivery. Value-based models need to accelerate and permeate so that health insurers and providers choose platforms that reduce the cost of care and improve patient outcomes.”