Launching an Emergency Department Telehealth Program During COVID-19: Real-World Implementations for Older Adults
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), broadly defines telehealth as the use of electronic information and technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. Forward triage is the sorting of patients based on needs before potential ED transfer. Forward triage establishes who requires ED treatment, prioritizes care delivery, and determines appropriateness of treatment in place, or in other settings.2 This paper highlights different models of how telehealth is being deployed by ED’s around the country based on needs, clinical setting, and resources.
