Q&A: Centura Health on telehealth expansion

The coronavirus pandemic and social distancing requirements prompted many healthcare organizations to start or expand their telehealth programs using webcams, phones, and computers to conduct virtual doctor’s appointments. In March, after the pandemic took hold in the United States, telehealth visits increased by 50%.

Meanwhile, legislation that had limited telehealth expansion was lifted to accommodate patient demand and promote social distancing. These changes included both reimbursement policies and regulations on practicing across state lines. Now, many at the state and federal level are calling to make these changes permanent. 

Shauna Gulley, MD, is the chief clinical officer of Centura Health, a 17-hospital health system operating in the Colorado area. She spoke with us about the work her health system has done on telehealth during the pandemic, and what comes next.

Q: Did your facility have a telehealth program before the pandemic?

Gulley: We had been piloting telehealth in a few different venues across Centura Health. We had three primary care physicians who were doing direct-to-consumer telehealth programs, and we were doing telestroke [examinations] in our hospital facilities. But before the pandemic it was pretty limited.

Q: And how did it change with the pandemic and the expansion of telehealth permissions?

Gulley: That [expansion], in conjunction with our consumers really wanting telehealth, created 

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