Many states are making it difficult for people to have virtual visits with doctors in other states, partly reversing the explosion in telehealth that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic and calling into question the durability of one of the major technological shifts from the past two years.
The rollback in telehealth access has been happening gradually and quietly over the past few months as pandemic-era emergency health orders lapsed in one state after another, reimposing some of the old rules about when doctors can practice in multiple states.
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At Johns Hopkins Medicine, some patients and their families are now having to switch doctors or drive hours to a different state when previously a video call from their home would have been allowed under the looser regulations, said Dr. Brian Hasselfeld, the health system’s medical director for digital health and telemedicine.